What Price Art
by degunther
Summary: The Castle's are newlyweds, and Castle finds Kate in the arms of one of her old lovers and now the lover is dead. Witnesses saw Kate, Castle and the victim argue, making Rick and Kate both prime suspects. Castle's two week book tour prevents Kate and Rick from working through this personal crisis face-to-face. Will his absence exacerbate or alleviate the situation they find themsel


**What price art?**

The Castle's are newlyweds, and Castle finds Kate in the arms of one of her old lovers and now the lover is dead. Witnesses saw Kate, Castle and the victim argue, making Rick and Kate both prime suspects. Castle's two week book tour prevents Kate and Rick from working through this personal crisis face-to-face. Will his absence exacerbate or alleviate the situation they find themselves in.

**Saturday**

When the alarm went off Castle stirred and watched Kate slide out of bed and head for the shower. I hate it when she works the weekend shifts, he thought. The 24/7 nature of the life of a Police Officer just ruins all kinds of plans. Last week we had planned to head down to Chelsea, browse the art galleries and find a wall hanging or painting for Jim's birthday. Now? At least we kept Friday night date night alive. The double feature at the Valencia was two classics 'Them' and 'The Creature from the Black Lagoon', and Remey's afterwards is always a treat.

What's for breakfast, thought Castle, as he started the coffee? I haven't fixed omelets in a while, omelets it is.

When Kate got out of the shower she noticed that Castles' side of the bed was empty. As she started dressing for work she never imagined that one of the fringe benefits of marrying Castle was breakfast. Having a man who knows how and is willing to cook is a blessing thought Kate for not the first time.

At breakfast Castle reminded Kate about his upcoming book tour. "I'll be gone two weeks. It's going to seem like forever. The itinerary is on the home computer. I end up at the Convention in Las Vegas. Any chance you can join me?"

"I'm a big girl Castle I can survive by myself for two weeks. I don't think I will be able to come down. I'll keep trying, but right now it doesn't look good. Is she going with you?" While Kate didn't dislike Gina, she didn't like her either. The idea of her going away with Castle for two weeks was a little bit unsettling, but she would trust Rick.

"Yes, Black Swan is sponsoring the trip and she is coming along to represent the publisher. Nothing is going to happen. She will be too busy counting sales."

From the first moment they met Kate and Rick had a connection. Since they had become married the connection had deepened to the point that could almost read each other's minds. 'I'm only yours 'thought Castle. 'Good. I love you', thought Kate with a smile. 'And I you', thought Castle leaning in to give Kate a kiss.

"Castle remember to meet me at the precinct at the end of your shift so we can head over to Chelsea and try to find a present for my Dad," said Kate just before departing.

**Saturday at the 12****th**

Yesterday was a full moon Friday night, thought Kate. The night shift gets all of the crazies and we get the aftermath. We will probably hear about a body drop any minute now…and when the phone rang Kate about jumped out of her chair.

"Officer Jameson," said Kate after nodding to the newly arrived Castle "what do we have? "

"We have Angie Dawson a 23 year old female who was supposed to go out with her friend, Mary Sue Jones, also a resident of this building. They were heading out for an early lunch prior to going to work at the theater where they perform. When Angie didn't answer the door, Mary Sue convinced the super to open the door. When they saw the body they called the police. Tom," nodding toward the other officer, "is taking Mary's statement. The victim's wallet is missing as well as some easily cartable and pawn able items. First blush appears to be a robbery gone wrong. "

"You said that the super had to unlock the door to enter," asked Castle?

"Yes he did."

"Are they any open or unlocked windows? If not then maybe the killer took the victim's keys and locked the door on his or her way out." As Castle looked around he saw a modest one bedroom apartment tastefully furnished that showed signs of being hastily searched. Not much out of place. The robber took a few things but did not take the time to do a thorough search. It's either that or the robber is incredibly neat, thought Castle. If you kill someone silently wouldn't you have the time to do a detailed search? Or you found what you were looking for early. A robbery gone wrong just doesn't feel right.

"This building doesn't have cameras or a doorman so we are out of luck in that department. So we are going to have to do it the old fashioned way, knock on the doors," said Esposito.

From Mary's statement the Team learned that they worked in the same off-Broadway production. The left the theater last night at about 11:15PM, went to a local restaurant had a midnight snack and came back to the apartment. She didn't notice anybody paying attention to them or following them. Mary confirmed that Angie was seeing a guy. It was an on-again off-again type of affair that was currently in the off mode.

"I've got the time of death at around 3:00 AM," said Lanie."She was hit on the head, and then chocked with her own necklace. No sign of sexual assault. I will refine everything later. "

"Ok guys," said Kate. "Let's complete the canvass of the building. Esposito and Ryan you guys try the restaurant, Castle and I will try the theater. When we get back order up the usual phones, and financials I'll notify next of kin and try to get the boyfriend down to the station. "

The wait staff at the restaurant remembered Angie and Mary, "Club and club," said the waitress. "Each one had a club sandwich and a club soda. That was one order I couldn't mess up," she said smiling at Esposito.

"Was anybody paying them any special attention?"

"I don't think so, but I was too busy to notice."

On the way out the manager give them a copy of the entryway camera video. At the precinct they arranged for the financials and the phone and arranged for the boyfriend to come in tomorrow morning.

At the theater the Production Manager was genuinely distrait when he heard of Angie's death. "Just last night I had her perform for the evening crowd and she was great. She's a great kid, a late bloomer. I think with a break she could have made it big."

"Did she have any problems with the cast or crew," asked Beckett.

"Nothing out of the ordinary, just competition for the roles when we first started, since then nothing. "

"Who did she compete with," asked Castle.

"Sally Gray she's in if you need to speak to her."

"Sally I'm Detective Beckett this is Mr. Castle we like to talk to you about Angie."

"I heard when I came in. it's awful."

"I understand you two competed for this role."

"That right I won the part, but the director was so impressed with Angie that he offered her another role."

"How she take it?"

"Disappointed at first, but then she accepted it as an opportunity to learn. It was a good steady paycheck and great addition to her resume."

"Was she having any problems with anyone else," asked Castle.

"I don't think so."

"Just routine Sally, but what did you do after last night's performance," asked Detective Beckett.

"My boyfriend, Tom Allen, took me to dinner at 'Sticklers' after the show. We left here around 11:20, got there around 11:40. We left for home around 12:30."

"Thanks for your time, and sorry about Angie."

"Anytime Detective."

The staff at Sticklers easily confirmed that Sally and Tom where there for dinner.

**The murder board at the precinct looked like this**

**Victim:** Angie Dawson, age 23, Actress

**COD: ** Blunt force trauma to the back of the head, then strangled with her own necklace.

**TOD: **2-4 AM

**TOX screen: ** TBD

**Notes:**

TBD

TBD

**Forensics:** TBD

**Speculation: ** Home robbery gone bad

The result of the canvass was not encouraging. One of the tenants saw a medium sized man in an old style field jacket wearing a black knit come out of the building around 3:30. No better description then "you know, medium."

The plan for tomorrow was straight forward, analyze the financials and the phone records, interview the boyfriend, review the video from the restaurant, wait for Lanie's and CSU's preliminary reports, and reach out to robbery for anything they might have.

**Sunday at the 12****th**

When the Castles arrived at the precinct there was no word from Lanie or CSU. Kate placed the call to robbery and said she would start on the financials, Rick said he would look at the video.

At the beginning of the fourth video review Castle was joined by Esposito, "anything?"

"Nothing. The first interval I watched was five minutes prior to the girls arriving to ten minutes after they arrived, nothing just couples or foursomes. The second interval was from five minutes prior to their departure to ten minutes after, again nothing suspicious, nothing out of the ordinary." After watching the video that Castle had cued up, Esposito agreed. The girls were not followed to or out of the club.

Detective Mason of Robbery was helpful. Tim talked through all of the trends and locations home invasions / robberies had been committed on the last four weeks. He was able to confirm that for none of the open cases did the thieves lock the door behind them.

"Castle, why do you think that's important," asked Beckett?

"Don't know, it just seems odd," was his reply.

The financials and phones were what you expect for a young actress, living from paycheck to paycheck, and the phones all friends, and her agent, with the occasional call for food delivery. Nothing remarkable our out of the ordinary.

Beckett and Castle watched Esposito and Ryan question the boyfriend.

"Thanks for coming in I'm Detective Esposito and this is my Partner Detective Ryan."

"How long have you known Angie Dawson?"

"About five years now, since she first moved into the neighborhood. I work days at the hardware store, some nights I bar tend. That's where we met, other nights I'm at school."

"When was the last time you saw her," asked Ryan.

"About a month ago, she came into the club and said she got the part. Between working and rehearsal she has no time for me. I don't like it but that is the way it is. Before you ask, yesterday I finished my shift at the club a little after one o'clock, cleaned up and was home by a little before two, studied a bit then went to sleep. Find the person who did this Detective. Angie was a good kid. She didn't deserve to die."

"I'm glad you can follow me around," whispered Kate in the observation room.

"Me too," replied Rick.

The CSU report contained some interesting tidbits. The first one was they had found several partial unidentified fingerprints at the crime scene. The theory was that the murder was using gloves, but one of the fingers had a tiny tear. The second fact was that in addition to the items listed on the report the victims keys were missing.

Lanie's report provided additional detail. The blow to the head was consistent with a blow struck by an expandable baton. The cause of death remained the same and the time of death was refined to be between 3:00 and 4:00 AM. The TOX screen was negative.

The team had some information but no real places the look. The plan was to break for this evening and come back tomorrow and dissect the crime again.

After the shift Kate and Rick hurried over to Chelsea to try to find something for Jim's birthday. Entering a small gallery Castle stopped when he saw a nude drawing of the victim and another one of his wife. Hearing laughter and Kate's unique squeal he turned the corner to see Kate enthusiastically kissing another man.

"Kate," said Rick. "Kate!" says Rick in a louder voice. Kate turns still keeping her arm around the other man's waist and his hand in hers.

"Castle, this is Henri Babineaux and old friend from school, Henri this is my…..husband, Richard Castle," said Kate with a look of surprise and shock on her face. When Kate saw the look on Castle's face and the direction of his eyes Kate felt the blood rush to her face and finally disengaged from Henri.

"Kate did you know that Henri has a nude drawing of you for sale?"

"Where?"

"The aisle behind me. It looks like it was done last week."

After scurrying to look and rushing back Kate screams, "Henri how could you do this to me?"

"It's a fantasy drawing Kate. You have not sat for me in many years, but I still remember your every curve, bump and contour. "

"Henri, this is abusive, you have no right."

"Free speech love."

"This isn't free speech, its exploitation. You know it. Take it out of the show. "

"No. The only way you can take it off floor is to buy it. Then I'll just draw another one."

"So this is how you repay me?"

"Kate you know you loved every minute of the time we were together and if the kiss was any indication you still do."

"Why you," as Kate rushes forward Castle trails her when Kate draws back to slap Henri, Castle grabs her, lifts her off of her feet and spins her around.

"This isn't over," shouted Kate.

Seeing their agreement had drawn a crowd Castle said, "Let's go."

"Not over," shouted Kate again.

All the way home, all through dinner, and their preparations for bed Kate kept complaining about the painting.

Finally Castle has had enough. Getting out of bed and looking disgustedly at Kate, Rick said, "I can't sleep here."

As he is heading toward the bedroom door Kate sat up and called out in a voice dripping with sarcasm, "I'm sorry my outrage at being exploited has disturbed your rest…Rick."

"This has nothing to do with the picture… Beckett. It's all about what you did and didn't do," replied Rick looking both furious and dejected at the same time.

Hearing Castle plop down on the couch Kate wondered 'What did I do?' The kiss her mind answered almost immediately. In her anger about the painting she had completely forgot the kiss she and Henri had performed in front of Castle and how they had lingered together even after Kate had introduced Rick as her husband. In a flash she remembered the pain, anger, and betrayal she felt when she watched Castle kiss the sexy insurance investigator, and they weren't a couple then! I gave all that to him and completely ignored him. He leaves tomorrow. We need to settle this before it gets out of control. What am I going to say? What am I going to do?

"Say nothing dear," whispered a voice Kate had thought she would never hear again. "Do what you must." 'Mom' thought Kate. Grabbing her pillow she walked out of the bedroom door toward the couch, toward Castle.

"Kate what are…"

With a loud "Shush!" Kate put a finger to Castle's lips and nodded for him to move over. When he didn't take the hit, she stuffed her pillow under his, lifted up the quilt, and sat on the couch. As she lay down with her back to Castle she forced him back toward rear of the couch. Later she pulled the quilt over both of them, reached back grabbed Castle's hand with hers pulled it over her back and placed it over her heart. Trapping Castles arm with hers she covered Castle's hand from the top and interlaced her fingers with his and held on tight.

"Kate what are you doing?"

"I'm sleeping with my husband even though he is acting like a jackass."

"Jackass," fumed Castle?

"Yes Jackass and I was a Fool for kissing Henri the way I did and a bigger Fool for not seeing how I hurt you, but you are still acting like a Jackass."

After an eternity, "So together we are a Foolish Jackass?"

Good thought Kate he made a joke he's coping. "Yes, more like a Fool with her Jackass, and this Fool would not trade her Jackass for all of the Henri's in the universe."

It took several minutes, but finally Kate felt the tension drain away from Castle. A bit later she felt a gentle hug, a kiss on her hair, and heard a soft "I love you Kate." Gently squeezing Castle's hand in return and trying to snuggle closer Kate whispered "I love you Rick." The image of her Mom was in Kate's thoughts.

**Monday**

It was still dark when Kate felt movement behind her, "Hey," she said.

"Hey," Castle replied. "Kate I'm…"

"Shush, I know what it's like to see someone you love kiss someone else, to feel the anger, pain, and the sense of betray, I felt them too, when I saw you kiss the sexy insurance investigator. I could have killed you both and we weren't married them. I know I shouldn't have let him kiss me that way, I lost it for a moment, and you are going to have to forgive me for that. You're going to have to trust that I'm your girl and only your girl and you're my guy and only my guy, ok? "

"Kate you …could you turn around please?" When Kate had repositioned herself so that they were eye to eye on the Castle continued, "Kate you have my heart. Yesterday you almost broke it. I was so mad at you that I couldn't stand the sight of you, and I had to get away. I knew that was a mistake, but I didn't know what else to do. I'm glad you followed me here. When I kept waking up and felt you next to me, I…"

"Shush love, I know. When I woke up I felt your arm around me and I felt safe. When you breathed I felt like we were one person and it felt good to be alive." After a few quite moments, "Castle when we fight again, yell at me, scream at me, verbally abuse me, curse me if you must, but don't walk away from me ever. There is nothing you can say that will hurt as much as seeing you walk away."

"I promise," said Castle pulling Kate into a kiss. When they broke the kiss Kate kept trailing kisses down Castles' neck and chest. "Kate…"

"You're leaving today right, I just want you to remember what you are leaving at home."

**Monday at the 12****th**

"Kate I'm positive that one of the paintings at the shop was of our first victim."

"You don't think there is a connection do you?"

"Don't know. But we should check it out."

"We can't go back there," said Kate in a firm tone.

"Then we send the boys."

"No, if they do then they will see all of the nude studies."

"Someone may buy it Kate, besides I liked it. I think he caught you."

"Castle!"

"Look I'm envious of the time he spent with you at college. I hate him for how he is exploiting you. I hate him for how you and he kissed. But this drawing, in this drawing I think he captured your beauty, your inner serenity, and your love of life. Those are three of the things that I love most about you. I was tempted to buy it. Then the other thing happened." Castle looked at the murder board, but Kate knew what he was really seeing. As Kate was about to reach out and touch Castle the elevator opened and she saw Javier and Kevin.

When everyone had settled in Kate asked, "What do we know?" She was not surprised to see Captain Gates hovering within earshot. She always seems to know when to listen in, I guess that what makes her a good Captain, thought Kate. She doesn't ask for updates she makes time hear what's going on. She gets and stays involved. That's why it's easy to work for her.

As usual Esposito started the summary. "We have no clear suspects. The boyfriend doesn't have an alibi for the time period, but everything he said he did on Saturday checks out. There wasn't an indication of bad blood between them, just no time for each other. Her best friend in the same building has no idea either. The canvass gave us a description of a medium size man wearing a field jacket and a knit cap. "

"None of the people at the production company make the immediate suspect list. The group is tight knit, and she was very well liked," added Kate.

"Nothing at all in the phone and financial department," added Ryan.

"Lanie and CSU has given us a little to go on," added Esposito. "we have partial prints which we can't match, and the assailant apparently used an expandable baton to knock out the victim before strangling her. "

"I've checked the MO for recent home invasion cases that resulted in a homicide and got no matches. I'm going to widen the search for incidents involving an expanded baton," said Kate.

"Right now our theory is a robbery gone wrong. I've talked to robbery and they don't have anything that can help us."

"There is one other thing," said Castle. "When Kate and I were shopping for a present for Kate's Dad. I thought I saw a drawing of the victim in one of the galleries."

"Thought Mr. Castle," inquired Captain Gates? "That's awful thin, and it's hard to see a connection. Let's see what the expanded search comes up with, and keep checking with Robbery."

"Yes Sir," responded Kate.

Later that morning Dispatch called. The Team had been assigned another case.

Arriving at the scene, "Officer Moreno what do we have," asked Kate?

"The victim is Henri Babineaux…"

"Stop right there! Castle out now. Esposito, Ryan with me."

"Guys," said Kate, "Castle and I are going to have to back out now. Last night Castle and I went to an art gallery where Henri's work is being shown. We had a pretty loud confrontation with him. I am afraid you are going to have to consider us suspects for the time being. That is until CSU can find something to indicate someone besides us did it."

"Did you," asked Esposito?

"No," said Kate. "But my participation at this point could be viewed unfavorably. I do not want to compromise a case. You guys proceed here. Castle and I will head back to the 12th and give our statements to Captain Gates. Hopefully CSU will find something that will allow me to return to the case."

"Do you think they did it," asked Esposito?

"Castle and Beckett," said Ryan in surprise." No, no way. If Castle was involved there would not be a body for us to investigate. This guy would just disappear, and all we would is he just started an extended vacation in Europe."

"Ok," said Esposito nodding in agreement, "let's save their asses again."

Dr. Parrish was surprised to see only Javier and Kevin. When Javier shook his head in response to her unspoken question she began. "This victim is almost a carbon copy of the Dawson girl. He was hit on the head and strangled with his own tie. The wound on the head appears to be identical to the wound on the Dawson girl. Time of death was around midnight. I'll no more later."

"Thank God," said Ryan. When Lanie looked at him he continued. "Beckett and Castle said they argued with this guy yesterday and went back to the station to give their statements to Captain Gates. This should help clear them."

"I didn't mean to eavesdrop," said Sue Burlington a CSU Team Lead, "but this should help. We found a footprint, man's shoe size eleven. I'm pretty sure that is too big for Detective Beckett and way too small for Mr. Castle."

"Lanie, Sue could you guys pass that to use officially as soon as you can? We would like to have our friends back on the case."

"A special Prelim? Sure, an hour after I get back," said Sue.

"Me too," said Lanie.

"Officer Moreno, could you begin again please?"

"The victim is Henri Babineaux…"

On the way back to the 12th Castle broke the silence. "Kate you are going to have to tell me your story about him, not today, it would be too painful, later in spring with the sun shining and the wind and sun in our faces."

Kate chanced a glance at Castle; he's still hurting she thought. "Sure," she replied.

**Kate and Rick at the 12****th**

"Detective," said a surprised Captain Gates, "Why aren't you at the crime scene?"

"Sir," said Kate, "We need to talk. It will probably be best if we do it in there," nodding toward the box.

"Ok" she said motioning them forward.

When Kate had completed the story about the kiss, the painting, the argument, as well as last night's sleeping arrangements, Captain Gates said,"It's good that you came forward. I'm sure that CSU will find something and I can let you return to the case in a day or two. For now stay on the Dawson case."

"Captain," said Castle," I think I need to take a polygraph, and I need to take it this afternoon."

"Why?"

"To cut off the rumors. Any good attorney will hear of the agreement and say Motive – Check. They will check our background to determine that we have the means to located Henri's home address. The same background check will reveal that we have the means to cause his death. So Means – Check. Since we are each other's alibis, and we are married, they will conclude Opportunity – Check. Let me see Means, Motive, and Opportunity a perfect case.

"A polygraph is not admissible in court."

"I know sir, we won't get to court because there is no evidence, but that won't stop the rumors in the house. There only three people whose opinions matter right now, Yours, Esposito's and Ryan's. By passing a Poly you guys have something else besides blind faith in us to believe in. Word will spread and the rumors will disappear before they take hold. A day or two is too late. If the Department can't afford it you can bill me. To me it's that important. "

"You better make that two sessions Sir," said Kate. "I think Castle's right about this."

Picking up her phone Captain Gates dials a number from memory, "Sarah, Gates, Could you come over now, I have two people I want you to screen. That was Sarah Jenkins. She will be here in thirty minutes. She is the best polygraph examiner in IA. I need you cleared. If she says you're clean, then a lot of people will believe it."

While they were waiting for Sarah to arrive, Kate and Captain Gates worked out the questions that needed to be asked to indicate that they had nothing to do with Henri's murder.

As Kate walked out of the box after taking the polygraph, Captain Gates walked in, "Sarah," she inquired?

"She's clean Captain, nervous, and anxious about something, but not this. She's clean."

"Good, you ready for the next one?"

When Esposito and Ryan arrived back at the 12th, they saw a worried Kate staring at the box.

"Who's in there," asked Ryan?

"Castle, he's finishing a poly, I finished mine a little while ago."

"A poly, wow, why," asked Esposito?

"To stop the rumor mill from melting down until CSU can find something. Assuming there is something to fine."

"We're ok there," said Ryan. " Lanie says it was the same type of weapon as the Dawson case and he was strangled with his own tie. CSU also found partial prints and a size eleven footprint. So that puts both of you off the hook in that department."

"Why you back so soon?"

"We thought we would start the phones and financials and drop off the video prior to heading to the gallery."

"Did Henri have a laptop and did Tech find it?"

"Yes to both. Why"

"Castle may have been right. Maybe there is a link between Henri and Angie."

"Do you think the killer is targeting the models?"

"Don't know. That's why I want the laptop to see if they models are identified."

"Kate there is a rumor going round here is that you were one of the models."

"Yes, when I was in college, I sat for Henri; it seemed like an easy way to earn some cash. Now I wish I hadn't."

"That means you could be a target."

"Let's find the connection first before we start jumping to conclusions."

Kate watched Captain Gates leave the observation room and head toward the box. When the door opened she heard the Captain say, "Mr. Castle wait a moment."

Stepping into the room Sarah responded to the unspoken question, "He's clear sir."

"Thank you for doing this Captain," said Castle.

"Thanks for volunteering. I think you made life easier for a lot of folks."

Nodding Castle walked towards Kate and the Boys.

When Kate caught Castle's eye she thought 'Cleared?'When Castle blinked in surprise and nodded Kate breathed a small sigh of relief, we are still connected.

After greeting Esposito and Ryan and hearing what Lanie and CSU had uncovered Castle turned to Kate and said, "I'll head back to the Loft and pack, ok?"

"I'll walk with you."

"Kate I…. Never forget you aren't alone."

"Bye love."

Javier and Kevin watched a depressed Kate walk back from the elevators. "You guys ok," whispered Ryan?

"We've had a bad week," confirmed Kate.

"Pack. Is it as bad as it sounds," asked Esposito.

"No, and Yes. He's going on a two week book promotion trip will little Miss Control freak. "

Something's not right, thought Esposito. Lanie. I ask Lanie to look into it.

"Sometimes, said Ryan "I forget he's not a cop."

"Let's go talk to the Captain and see if she will let me back on this case."

It took Captain Gates less than a minute to tell Detective Beckett that she should 'run with her Team.'

In a role reversal Kate sent the Boys off to interview the gallery owner and Henri's current girl friend. She would stay behind set-up the board, and the case e-file structure, port in the mail and financial records and do a review of the video from Henri's apartment. Why does it seem we are a man short, Kate asked herself looking at Castle's empty chair?

The canvass reports added no new information. The video had some interesting frames right around the time of death window. It looked like someone knew the exact field of view of the camera and hugged the wall to avoid getting caught on camera but a portion of something made it into the frame. Kate noted the time of the suspicious frames and logged a rest with the CSU video wizards to examine the frames in greater detail.

When the Boys returned Kate was surprised that it was past the end of the shift. They reported they did not get to interview the girlfriend, but she agreed to meet them here tomorrow at 9 o'clock. Kevin reported that Teo Garza said "Other than an argument yesterday with a 'beautiful but aggressive woman' Mr. Babineaux show has been peaceful and profitable." He promised to email a list of the art sold and customers first thing in the morning.

**The murder board at the precinct looked like this**

**Victim:** Henri Babineaux, age 33, Artist

**COD: ** Blunt force trauma to the back of the head, then strangled with her own tie.

**TOD: **12-1 AM

**TOX screen: ** TBD

**Notes:**

TBD

TBD

**Forensics:** Bloody footprint

**Speculation: ** Home robbery gone bad; Tie to Dawson Case?

**Follow up: ** Girlfriend, Apartment video, store video, store art sale list.

When Kate stopped off at the Golden Dragon to buy dinner, Chris Lei, the owner, was surprised that Kate only ordered Cashew Shrimp for one. "Where is Castle?"

"He's on travel Chris, he's going to be gone for a couple of weeks."

"Eat here," he said pointing to the booth, "Your part of our family, no sense eating at home alone sit, Jiao will bring your food over sit."

Kate let Chris walk her over to the booth where she and Castle normally sat. As she took off her coat and sat down she could almost see Castle slide in across from her and reach out to hold her hand. With this image in her mind Kate started to relax. She must have dozed off for she was surprised when Jiao brought the tray with her food over to the table. Kate's eyes widened in surprise when she saw Jiao place a second teacup on the table and pour tea into it, "for Castle" she said. When Kate looked at Jiao's old-young face she saw great deeps of wisdom and compassion. "You have his heart Kate," she whispered, "He's here with you."

Looking at Castle's teacup she could almost hear his laugh. How does he know these things? 'Research' whispered a familiar voice. Feeling comforted Kate finished her dinner and completed her journey home to the Loft.

"Good evening Mrs. C," called Tom the Doorman," I'll help you got those things upstairs if you need me to."

"Tom did you just call me Mrs. C?"

"Mrs. Castle I'm sorry if I offended you."

"No, no it's not that. It's that nobody has ever called me Mrs. C before. I think I like it. What things are you talking about?"

"Over here." Tom leads Kate over to a shelf containing three boxes. Each box contains a dozen roses. One dozen is red, another white, and the last yellow.

Oh my thought Kate. "Tom I will certainly need your help."

Entering the Loft Kate directs Tom to place the flowers on the countertop. "Thanks Tom," Kate calls.

"Anytime Mrs. C"

It takes Kate several minutes to find enough vases and arrange and distribute the flowers around the Loft. They do look lovely she thought. Clearing off the last box Kate discovered a sealed envelope with the single word Kate on the front. Definitely Castles handwriting, she thought. Taking a deep breath she opened the envelope and read the note inside.

'Dearest Kate,

Please forgive me for doubting you. I know you love me. I see it in your eyes. I feel it in your touch, but when I remember seeing you respond that way to another man I simply want to scream. This morning I thought I could live with it. When Henri died and I had to relive the moment during our interview with Captain Gates and again with the polygraph examiner it just hurt too much for me to bear I wanted to get as far away from you as possible. I know if I did that then we would never come to closure. This trip comes at a bad time because I need your touch, your presence, and your warmth to help me work through this. Hopefully I will be able to work this out and when I return and be able to great my wife joy, not anger.

Kate could you do me a favor. Take a rose to work with you and when you see it think of me? I'm jealous and I always want to be in your thoughts.

Gina pulled her first surprise. We have a dinner tonight with the Regional VP for Black Swan, so I need to play nice. I'll probably be late, can I call you tomorrow?

PS

Have I told you I love you?

I'm going to survive this. How could I not? I married a beautiful, extraordinary woman who loves me. I married a woman whom I trust with my life, my honor, and my heart. I would die for you Kate, but I want to live with you more. Even though I'm here and you're there you are not alone because my thoughts will be with you.

Have I told you I love you?

Rick

After the third reading Kate had calmed down. He still loves me. He still wants me with him. I need to be with him but he would resent be running away from my duties. How can I let him know that he is in my heart? How can I let him know every minute of every day that I need him? Frantically thinking of an idea, her eyes land on the roses. Lingering a moment Kate has a plan. First things first.

"Rick I don't care how late it is call me. I need to hear your voice darling. I want you to hear mine. Call me."

"Four Seasons Chicago. How can I help you?"

"Concierge Desk please?"

"Concierge Desk this is Robert. How can I help you?"

"Robert this is Mrs. Castle. My husband will be checking into the hotel to night. Is there a great florist nearby that can make a flower delivery at 9 AM every morning?...Great . This is what I want done."

Later that night. "Castle, hey," said a sleepy Kate.

"It's late I woke you, we'll talk tomorrow, ok?"

"No, I want to her your voice. How was dinner?"

"Food was great, Robert Brennan, the VP seems like a nice guy. They were felling me out in regards of changing my writing schedule. They want to alternate between doing a Derrick Storm book and a Nikki Heat book. I don't know if I can switch gears like that. They also asked if I thought about starting a new series about a modern day Paladin. Interesting table talk. No real pressure. They just wanted be to think out of the box for a while. Did you get the roses? I could not remember your favorite color so I got you some of each."

"They are lovely. I mixed up the colors and distributed around the Loft. The place looks grand….I also got your note."

"Kate I…"

"Shush Love. I hurt you I know. I wish you were her so I could hold you, so we can make it right together but we are apart right now. You have your job to do and I mine. Tomorrow I will take a rose to work with me and I look at it I will see you.

Tomorrow and every day on this trip I am going to have two flowers delivered to you at 9:00 AM. I've asked for the boldest brightest rose they have and a boutonniere as a present from a demanding lady for her very special husband. I hope the rose brightens up your suite as you have brightened up my life. I've instructed that the boutonniere be stylish, slightly fragrant, and made with flowers that will retain their beauty all day long."

"Just like the demanding lady," interjected Castle.

"When you look at it see me. See me smiling up at you. Imagine me on your arm. Think of me and I will be there. We need to build Castle memories. Not memories about cases solved. Memories about us."

"I want that too."

"Good. Hurry home I miss you already."

"Tomorrow…Castle," said Rick.

"Tomorrow Castle," repeated Kate. Tomorrow means hope remembered Kate. Castle he's never called me Castle before smiled Kate.

**Tuesday**

After Kate turned off the alarm she turned to look at Castle's side of the bed. She missed his calming presence, his gentle breathing. He's in Chicago on business, Kate thought. He'll be back.

**Castle in Chicago **

Castle was finishing up breakfast when he noticed the time, 8:55. I better hurry he thought.

Castle smiled when he got in the elevator with the florist delivery man. Beating him to the door by a step, Castle unlocked the door turned to the delivery man and said, "For me I presume?"

"Mr. Castle?"

"Yes"

"Enjoy"

The rose was beautiful, but the boutonniere was a work of art. Castle put the rose in a vase, took a picture of the boutonniere and e-mailed it to Kate's laptop at the Loft. Finally opening the cards Castle read 'For my Love' 'From his Lady'

Castle reached for his phone and texted 'Flowers like the lady, beautiful'

A moment later Kate called, "Hey Castle I'm on my way to see Lanie. I'm glad you liked the flowers. What's your schedule today?"

"11-1 book signing, 2:20-5:30 book signing/reading and a reception from 7-10. So it looks like another midnight call ok?"

"Always, elevator's here got to run Love you."

An hour and a half to kill thought Castle; if I did another Derrick Storm what would I say?

Later when Gina saw the boutonniere on Castle's lapel she quipped, "Who are you going on a date with Castle?"

"Kate Castle," was his smiling response.

**Tuesday at the 12****th**

Henri was doing alright for himself thought Kate as she finished up looking at Henri's financials. Decent balance, income spiky, but you would expect that with an artist, boom around shows and exhibitions, and miniscule the rest of the time. No suspicious deposits or expenses. He does have an offshore account. It will be a while before we get that data

The phone logs were proving to be a bit more difficult, he had dialed a lot of different numbers. So far they were proving to be routine, the gallery, the realtor, furniture stores, food take out, hardware stores, and his girl friend.

Kate grimaced when she heard Ryan say, "that the only thing interesting on the gallery video was the scene where a ruggedly handsome man was forcibly carrying an attractive woman out of the premises."

Kate's gaze shift from the chair to the rose and back, yep we were on our best behavior that night weren't we Castle.

The Team had just started cold calling the buyers of Henri's art when Cindi Roberts, Henri's girlfriend showed up at the station.

"I think you guys had better take the interview," said Kate.

" Cindi Roberts I'm Detective Esposito and this is my Partner Detective Ryan. Sorry for your loss. We would like to ask you some questions about your boy friend Henri Babineaux. Do you know anyone who would want kill him?"

"Other than the Bitch Kate whatever from the gallery on Sunday No. Why haven't you arrested her?"

"No evidence. When did you first meet Henri?"

"He just moved here from LA. He placed an ad for models. I applied and we hit it off."

"His show has a fair number of nudes. Were all of these done in NYC?"

"Two others I think. The rest must have been done in LA. Do you have any idea who killed him?"

"Right now we think it's a home robbery gone wrong. Where were you Sunday Night?"

"We were supposed to go out, but Henri called around 6:30 and said something had upset him at the Gallery and he wanted to be alone. Sara Thomas and I went to Sapphires; we stayed to about 11:30. We shared a cab to her place, and then the cabbie dropped me off at my place around midnight."

"Again we are sorry for your loss and thank you for your time."

"Just find the person who killed Henri Detective, just find him."

After Cindi had left, the Team gathered to access the situation.

"OK we are still waiting on Lanie, Sue and Tech. Esposito try to backtrack the victim in LA issues complaints that sort of thing. Is there a reason he suddenly moved to NYC? Ryan look again at Dawson's and Babineaux financials to see if there is a payment history. I'll check out Cindi's story and finish the cold calls on the art buys."

"I didn't see anything the first time, but I'll look again," said Ryan.

"Right now our working theory is a home robbery gone wrong. Castle's instinct was that these two cases are connected by some other means. "

"I just don't see it," said Esposito.

"OK, let's work with what we got and try to generate more."

"Beckett," said Kate as her phone rang,"….OK I'll be right over."

"Lanie has something," said Kate heading toward the elevator.

"What do you have Lanie?"

"The weapon that knocked the victim unconscious was the same type of weapon used on Angie Dawson. The diameter fits a number of types of expandable batons. Also he had a couple of glasses of wine with dinner. Time of Death is still between Midnight and one o'clock."

"You could have told me that on the phone."

"Yes, but then I couldn't ask what's going on between you and Castle could I?"

"Castle saw me kiss the victim."

"Well it was only a kiss."

"There are kisses and there are kisses. He was my first true love Lanie. He ambushed me, but I didn't push away, for a moment I thought I was back in school and with him and I completely lost it. The picture thing came up. I got so focused on that that I did not see that I had hurt Rick. I hurt him so bad he called me Beckett in the Loft."

"What did you do?"

"When he went to sleep on the couch I went with him. We both slept on the couch Sunday night."

"Seriously," laughed Lanie?

"And the morning make up was spectacular. When Henri died Castle had to relive the moment twice, once with Captain Gates and the other time with the polygraph examiner."

"The polygraph was a smart idea. It stopped a lot of tongues from wagging."

"Castles. He's hurting again and with Gina on a two week book promotion tour."

"You don't think…"

"No, NO of course not. I'm sending Castle flowers every day just to let him know I love him. He's already called and texted. We're going to be ok, but I'll sleep better when he is home."

After lunch Kate returned to the precinct. A few quick calls confirmed Cindi's story. The CSU contained little new information, robbery – cash and pawn able commodities, the bloody footprint, partial fingerprints, and a locked door with missing keys.

The end of the day assessment was not pleasing. The cold calls had not opened any additional leads. Ryan still could not find a financial link between the two cases, Tech had not finished with the laptop, the CSU video wizards had not finished analyzing the frames Kate requested and Esposito was still playing time-lag phone tag with the LA people.

The majority opinion was that the cases had no connection, and the murders were a result of a robbery gone wrong and committed by a careful robber.

Starring at the rose Kate thought, I do miss you, you know. We all do. Why do you think these cases are connected? What questions would you be asking? Why are the keys missing? Most important of all forgive me and hurry home.

At the end of her shift Kate went back to Chelsea to try to find a present for her Dad. Finding a nice oil painting of a rural scene, Kate bought it and arranged for it to be sent to her Dad. After walking around for several minutes Kate gathered the courage to enter the gallery where Henri's art was been featured. As Kate was contemplating the picture of herself a salesperson approached her. "May I help you Ma'am?"

"I'll take this piece."

"Go choice, and a good time to buy too. Henri passed recently and the value of his works is sure to appreciate. As you can see he has done a number of nude studies. I think this is the best of the lot."

"Are you a student?"

"Oh, Yes, NYU."

"What media do you work in?"

"I like painting."

"Why is the piece the best of the lot?"

"I think he loved her. Look how he portrayed her body, strong, beautiful and poised. I also think she loved him. Look at the face, the life in the smile, the depths in the eyes, and the set of her chin."

When the salesclerk looked from Kate back to the picture back to Kate she started blushing, "I'm sorry," she stammered.

"Don't be. Let me pay for this and tell you where to ship it."

Taking the picture off of the wall and heading toward the payment center. "I'll pack this myself tonight and have it messengered to you tomorrow morning."

"Thank you. One other thing has there been a medium height man spending a lot of time looking at Henri's nude studies?"

"Yes"

"Did he give you a name?"

"Tony something. He asked if we knew any of the names of the studies. We referred him to Henri."

"Did you ask him why?"

"He said he was having fun guessing the names and just wanted to find out how bad he was doing."

"When was the last time you saw him?

"Sunday"

"Do you remember the first time you saw him?"

"Sure, the day the exhibit opened, Thursday."

"I'm Detective Kate Beckett. I'm investigating Henri's murder. Do you think you could come down to the station and describe him to a sketch artist?"

"I'll draw him tonight and email it to you tomorrow morning ok?"

"That would be fine."

All the way home, Kate was pleased with herself. She had found a nice item for her day and a surprise for Castle. Arriving in the Loft Kate performed her usually ritual, phone on the charger; hardware stowed, and changes into house clothes.

Making her way to the countertop she fumed, why hadn't dinner been started? Then she tilted her head back and laughed. You're making your own dinner you twit. How soon we take our loved ones for granted thought Kate. This is just another reason to hug my husband when he gets home. Perhaps I should start a list of the reasons. Nah, he would see it and just inflate his ego. I can handle that, it would be nice though. Queuing up 'The Best of the Doors' Kate made dinner. After dinner and dishes Kate settled in with a glass of wine, softer music and her book. Castle will call around Midnight. Do I nap now or stay up? I'll read a bit then go to sleep.

"Hey Castle how was your day," said a sleepy Kate.

"I know its part of the job description but I'm beginning to hate asking 'Who do I make this out to?' and hearing 'I'm your biggest fan.' They buy the books and pay our bills, so I play super nice. Gina's going to have to learn to let the fans pick which section they want to hear. I also go with the fans and Gina fumes. The reception was another practice in smiling. I loved the flowers and the cards 'my lady'. How was your day?"

"We made no progress on either case. We are still going with the robbery gone bad theory."

"It doesn't feel right but I can't explain it right now. Do you think you could take pictures of the murder boards and send them to me?"

"No the IT mafia would scream bandwidth, bandwidth,…"

"How about taking the pictures, transferring them to the home computer or your laptop and sending them to me that way?"

"I can do that. …..I went to Henri's gallery today. The salesclerk said that there had been a man asking questions about the nude studies. She's an art student at NYU and will send us a sketch tomorrow. So maybe the cases are related."

"Did you see your picture?"

"Yes"

"Would it upset you if I bought it?"

"It would depend. Why do you want it?"

"Because he captured you almost perfectly. He put on canvas the image I hold of you. He caught your looks, your eyes, and your smile."

"Where would you put it?"

"I don't know. Perhaps I would just take a picture of it and keep it on my phone so that I can look at it while I'm travelling. Maybe not because it would drive me crazy," laughed Castle.

"Well you are too late, when I left the store the painting had been sold," said Kate with a huge smile on her face.

"Rick about the other thing. I know you are the strong silent type. I love that about you. But when I hurt you tell me. I don't want a whiner you know that, but when something I've done bothers you tell me. I reread your note….. I want to live my life with you too. Help me keep you happy ok? "

"I'll try Kate."

"Tomorrow Castle," said Kate.

"Tomorrow Castle," repeated Rick.

**Wednesday**

As Kate neared the countertop she thought of Castle always being up, coffee made and cooking breakfast for her. Another reason to hug my husband, thought Kate. Laughing to herself, I have two reasons to hug my husband and they both concern food that's not right. OK two more, one I need a hug, and one more hug to be sure. Grabbing a yogurt out of the fridge, Kate decided to check her laptop for email. Besides the usual 'Last day to Shop' notices she found the image from Castle of the boutonniere – it is lovely she thought, and the drawing from the store clerk. She has talent, Kate thought, Kate was even more impressed when she read the description of the man.

This will certainly help thought Kate. As she emailed her thanks and forwarded the image to her terminal at the 12th. Oh, I need to tell Tom to expect a package, smiled Kate. Where am I going to hang it? On a whim she opened a file labeled 'Reasons_to_hug_Castle' on her laptop.

On her way out she checked Castle's schedule "11-1 book signing, 2:20-5:30 book signing/reading and another book signing/reading from 7-10. So it looks like another midnight call.

**Castle in Chicago - **

Castle made sure he had finished breakfast and was waiting in his hotel room for the florist. The rose was beautiful and the boutonniere, like yesterday a work of art. When after emailing Kate an image of the boutonniere, Rick read the cards 'For My Love' 'Who has My Heart'. Rick sat down, smiled closed his eyes imagined a smiling Kate by his side and said, "If I was a modern day Paladin and you my Squire what would we do?"

**At the 12****th**

As Kate excited the elevator she saw the rose sitting in the vase on her desk and smiled. She added a yellow rose to vase before accessing her email and printing the sketch and description she had forwarded from home. As she was posting it on the board Esposito and Ryan came in each carrying quite a bit of paper.

"Who's that," asked Ryan?

"It's someone who was asking questions at the gallery and trying to find the models names," said Kate.

"You went back there," asked Esposito?

"I needed to buy my Dad a present, so while I was in the area I thought I'd stop in. When I chatted with the Sales clerk she said that this guy had been asking questions about the models."

"Do you think there is a connection," asked Ryan?

"Don't know. "I'm hoping that the material from the lap top will help us."

"Before we divvy that stuff up let me bring everyone up to speed on Henri Babineaux in LA," said Esposito. Kate looked around and saw Captain Gates within earshot, "Go ahead," said Kate.

"The victim had a good business in LA. He was a darling of two galleries. He developed a reputation for his incredible nude studies. His reputation was so good he received heftily commissions to paint some very beautiful and powerful women.

"His financials support that," added Kate.

"His problems began when the lady's likenesses started to show up on his 'fantasy' works. The lady's sued and lost. They get even another way. They put so much pressure on the galleries that ended up blackballing our victim."

"And without a gallery to host his work, he relocated," added Ryan.

"Interesting," said Captain Gates. "Detective, what do you intend to do?"

"If there is a connection in the cases I think its local Sir. The LA people ran him out of town. If they are still vindictive then they would find some way to bring pressure on the local galleries. Right now we are going to process the take from the victim's lap top. With one of the first priorities being to determine if our first victim modeled for our second victim. Then we will see if there is any other information to give us a place to look to develop a lead."

It was right before lunch when Ryan said, "Guys I got something. This is the list of the woman who answered his add for models. Our first victim name is there. This is his studio schedule. It lists three names our first victim, Janet Campbell, and his current girlfriend. "

"I've got her DMV photo. I remember seeing her picture in the gallery," said Esposito deliberately not looking at Kate. "

"Ok, why don't you guys try to track her down, explain the situation, but try not to scare her? Take the sketch. Advise her to be careful and lock up."

"Kate you ok," asked Esposito?

"Yeah, what's up?"

"You have been giving us all the field work on this case, we like it, but we were wondering…?"

"I'm fine, really. It's that I feel naked without my Partner. Since we never know when a call can go bad…"

"….Sending the two of us is safer," finished Ryan.

The Boys tracked down Janet Campbell, the second model, at her job as an entry level member of an investment banking firm. "I saw that Henri died in the paper. They said it was a break in," said Janet.

"That's our current theory Miss," said Esposito, "since Angie Dawson died and she also was a model we think that there might be a connection and decided it was our duty to warn you."

"Ok I understand. You don't need to tell my boss about this do you? I could lose my job."

"No. We are here just to make you aware of a potential situation. "

"That's a relief. OK I shall consider myself warned. What was the name of the gallery again?"

"Figgs," replied Esposito.

While the boys were out, Kate watched the video from the gallery. She saw the man on the sketch watch her and Castle. So you saw me, thought Kate. You use a baton. If Castle is right you may be coming for me and I'm going to be more than you can handle.

The end of shift assessment was still bleak. A tenuous link could be formed between the two cases, but so far they had no place to look for what could be a serial killer.

"Mrs. C I helped Mrs. R with the package you had delivered this morning," said the Doorman.

"Thanks Tom," Kate replied. Martha's home early. At least I won't have to eat alone.

When Kate entered the loft she heard Martha in the kitchen. Walking closer she saw Martha turn around. "Ah Katherine dear I was just trying to decide what to do about dinner."

"Martha let me change and we can decide together."

"Hurry along Dear."

After Kate had performed her normal arrival ritual of putting the phone on the charger, stowing her hardware and changing into house clothes she went to the kitchen to see about dinner.

"I had a large and late lunch," confessed Martha.

Stir Fry would be ideal, but that's Castle's and my special quick dinner, thought Kate. "Martha I see we have some greens, some ham and turkey cold cuts and a couple of hard boiled eggs. How about a super salad I could nuke and crumble some bacon."

"There's an apple, some walnuts, raisins, and sunflower seeds. A super salad sounds wonderful. We are going to need some space. What's this?"

"A present for Castle, a painting."

"May I?"

"Sure" Kate heard Martha cut the plastic strap bindings and slice the paper open.

"Oh my," said Martha. "Richard is going to love this dear. The artist really captured you."

"That's what Castle said."

"He's seen this then."

"Yes"

"So this isn't the cause of your present…difficulty?" When Kate didn't reply immediate Martha continued. "Katherine I don't mean to pry but I do find it strange to come home and see both of my children spending the night on the couch."

A small smile briefly illuminates Kate's face, but is replaced by a deep frown. "I don't want to go into it Martha, but let's say I acted like a Fool and Castle reacted like a Jackass."

"Ah and I suppose the roses were part of the Jackasses apology?"

"Yes, and he is most definitely forgiven," smiled Kate.

"They do brighten up the place. And the Fool?"

"The status of her apology is in doubt," confessed Kate. "This trip could not have come at a worse time."

"Katherine, Richard loves you beyond all reason."

"He thinks I gave a small reason not to, and I did sort of."

"Then don't let him forget you for a moment."

"I'm sending him flowers and a card every morning. When he calls we talk. We are going to make it Martha."

Kate was surprised and felt comforted when Martha closed the distance between them and placed a Motherly kiss on Kate's forehead. "You're doing fine dear. I'm glad Richard found you when he did. You are good for him. You helped him grow."

And he led me out of my own personal dungeon, thought Kate. I like her whispered a voice from Kate's past.

"Martha I wish you could have met my Mom. You two would have gotten along famously."

"Thank you dear. Have you decided where you are going to hang that?"

"No"

"How about the bedroom for now, then when the novelty wears off, Richard's office in the Hamptons."

"Why the Hamptons," Kate asked knowing the perfect spot to hang it?

"History, all of the lords used to hang the risqué portraits of their wives and mistresses in their summer houses with the hope that their friends and enemies would see them thereby enhancing their…."

"…reputation," offered Kate.

"I was going to say ego, but you get the point."

Laughing Kate asked, "Martha, are you available for dinner next Thursday Night? It's my Dad's birthday and I would like you to join us."

"Certainly, sounds like fun."

"Let me get this out the way and we can start dinner."

After dinner and dishes, with light jazz playing in the background the ladies shared a comfortable silence. Martha searching through scripts to find teaching points for her class and Kate searching to escape in her book.

"Hey Castle how was your day," said a sleepy Kate.

"About the same as yesterday, at least Gina is learning. She is letting pick the starting point for the readings. So far three audiences, three different starting places. I like that. It means I'm writing a memorable book, not just a memorable chapter."

"I bet Gina is scared the audience will want you to read the couch scene."

"That's the section Gina wants me to read."

"Really? Why," said Kate coming completely awake?

"You can ask her. I'm not going to," laughed Castle.

"Any thoughts on our case?"

"I still think there connected. The one theory that pops up is an old boyfriend. His girl sits for Henri. The boyfriend confronts the girl. The girl dumps him stays with Henri for away. The boyfriend thinks all women who pose are betrayers and he decides that they shouldn't live as well as the one who caused the betrayal."

"But why now?"

"Perhaps she was in LA and he was in NYC."

"And now Henri is NYC so he can take his revenge, " finished Kate. "Good story Castle but little proof."

"We've got two bodies. I suppose it would way too difficult to get a list of the people who sat for Henri in LA and see if they had NYC boyfriends?"

"That would be a super manpower eater Castle."

"I guess, and I still have figured out what role the keys play in this."

"Castle I know this is off subject, but could you tell me why you and Meredith broke up?"

"Wow, ok, sure, let me grab something to drink."

"Do you know why I hate it when you lie to me?... Meredith," said Castle in a strangely cold voice. "I'll get back to that. Young Lust pretty much described our relationship. When Kyra Blaine left I was broken up. I never thought she would leave me. I recovered by doing my 'CIA internship' with Sophia. When we broke up I retreated to LA the land of never ending women. Meredith is a diva like my mother. She is as sexy a woman as you can imagine. I had just finished by sixth or seventh best seller. We met at a party and kept on partying. She is charming, witty, spontaneous, and extremely fun. Did I mention extremely sexy. When Alexis came she became the center of our world, but only for a little while. It did not take long for Meredith to return to acting like a diva and leave Alexis to me. She went back to work and I took care of Alexis. I was determined that Alexis would have the same feeling of abandonment that I had. Meredith got this one role and kept coming home later and later. When I asked why she said she was rehearsing. She was rehearsing alright. She was rehearing with the Producer. The next thing I knew I had been served with Divorce Papers and Meredith had moved in with the Producer. "

"From then on I've equated women lying to me to women who are about to leave me. Don't lie to me Kate. Please don't lie to me."

"I won't Castle," whispered Kate. "I won't….When Meredith was here she said that you knew everything about her, but she knew so little about you."

"She is a self-absorbed Diva. She never went out of her way to find out. She never really opened her eyes to see me. We she wanted to make me angry she would ask questions about my Dad. Back then Kate I knew nothing about my Dad. How could I answer her? If you want to know my likes and dislikes then live with me in the present. We are going to make mistakes. Let's make them striving for a future together not trying to tiptoe around the past. Stay with me Kate. Grow with me."

Kate tried to meet Rick's heartfelt plea with strength, confidence, and love, "Castle you are my one and done. My heart knows this, my head knows this, and I need my husband to know this."

After a long moment, "Tomorrow Castle," said Kate.

"Tomorrow Castle," repeated Rick.

**Thursday**

Kate was finishing her first cup of coffee when the phone rang. "Detective Beckett…On my way." Why they giving us this case? Surely Captain Gates knows we have two open ones. I guess she believes that they are robberies gone badly and we will catch him on his next job. Castle doesn't believe that though. He would argue that Janet Campbell is in danger. He would be furious if he thought the attacker knew my name. I'm a cop let him come. I'll handle him.

The crime scene was in the parking lot of a midtown Holiday Inn. Kate only saw the one Blue and White and the Coroner Vehicle. She was the first of her team to arrive. At first glance it looked like the murder occurred in one of the Cities vehicles. The early April cold rain was dampening sprits as well as the crime scene. "Officer Jenkins what do we have," said Kate.

"Detective the morning supervisor at the motor pool noticed that one of his vehicles was still checked out. He pinged the transponder got this address and my partner and I got the call. When we got here we saw the body called it in and set up a perimeter of sorts. Dr. Perlmutter arrived about a minute before you did."

Seeing Kevin and Javier arrive, "I'll give him a minute. If I bother him too soon he gets cranky."

"I heard that," shouted Perlmutter.

With her Team in tow they approached the crime scene," Good morning Dr. Perlmutter. What can you tell us?"

"Good morning Detective Beckett. I don't see non-detective Castle this morning. "

"He is in Chicago."

"Lucky us. We are getting rain; he gets six inches of snow."

"Really," said Kate? "I didn't look at the weather forecast. Castle absolutely hates snow, except at Christmas time."

"Detectives," started Dr. Perlmutter. "We have Maria Martinez, an ADA. She was killed with a small caliber weapon at close range. You can see the powder burns on her clothes. I'd say the murder weapon was a 22. Her purse and wallet are here and appear to be untouched. Also her laptop and day planner are still in the computer case on the backseat. I don't think there was a sexual assault, but I'll check that at the morgue. Right now I'm placing Time of Death somewhere between nine o'clock and midnight."

With a nod of thanks Kate reassembled her team. Considering the victim was an ADA she was not surprised that Captain Gates had joined them at the crime scene. "Detectives," she said. "It should be clear that this case is your number one priority."

"Yes Sir," they all replied.

"Guys tell me what you see," commanded Kate.

"It looks like the killer was in the car with her," started Esposito.

"She was turned towards the killer,' added Ryan.

"The small gun was easily hidden," said Esposito.

"We need to have CSU check for prints on the keys. If the car was running,…", said Kate.

"Then the killer turned it off," added both of the Boys.

"Why would a woman come to a hotel like this," asked Kate?

"An affair," offered Esposito?

"Why would an ADA come to a hotel like this," asked Kate again.

"To talk to a witness, to meet a source," offered Ryan.

"Why does this feel wrong?" asked Kate again. When no one answered she continued, "What type of woman meets her guy at hotel in a company car that she knows is GPS tracked? Also what type of ADA meets a witness or source in a company car that she knows is GPS tracked?"

"Those that don't read Castle's books," quipped Esposito.

"If this is case related why kill her instead of the source or witness?"

"You think it was personal then," asked Ryan?

"That's my hunch, but we will follow the evidence."

"Our first order of business is to find out what guests arrived between nine-thirty and midnight and see if they saw anything. Then we need to talk to the guests who have a view of the crime scene and find out if they saw anything."

"Next we need to hit her apartment and talk to her neighbors. Why don't you guys plan to handle that while I hit the DA's office and talk to her boss and co-workers? Of course we need to start the paper chase, phones and financials. We also need to pull the hotel's video, if they have any on the entrances and exits to the parking lot. "

"Captain, do you think you could persuade Tech to put Maria's laptop at the top of the queue."

"Detective do you always try to delegate upward the hard jobs," said Captain Gates with a hint of a smile.

"We I can Sir, if I think I can get away with it."

"Persuading Tech will not be a problem Detective," said a smiling Captain Gates.

Even with all three Detectives and a pair of Uniformed Officers, it took them almost to lunch time to complete the interviews. Even then they only had one witness say she thought she saw a man in a raincoat get into the vehicle. The Team took the video from the hotel surveillance system even though it only covered the entryway.

At the precinct everyone pretended not to notice the smile on Kate's face as she gently unwrapped the rose she had brought from home and placed it the vase with the other two. The Team divided the labor, Esposito started the process to get a warrant to search the victim's apartment, and Ryan started the process to begin and the paper chase, while Kate notified the next of kin and tried to set up an appointment with Maria's boss.

Kate has mixed success with the phone call to ADA Ted Fleming. His 'Gatekeeper' informed Kate the ADA was at the Courthouse in the middle of a 'pretrial motions meeting' and had a similar meeting on another case around three and probably would not be back to after five o'clock. She did schedule Kate in to talk with the ADA at eight o'clock tomorrow morning. Chatting further she learned that Maria had a new boy friend, Tony Clarke, and that he was a Junior Partner with a Law Firm downtown.

After posting a copy of the boyfriend's picture on the Murder Board, and handing a second copy to Ryan Kate said, "As soon as we get the warrant, you guys hit the apartment. I'll interview the boyfriend and meet you there."

Maria's apartment was a rather spacious two bedroom apartment in Midtown. The large center area was divided into three sections, a countertop eating area, adjacent to the small but functional kitchen, an entertainment area, and an open area for exercise. The second bedroom was configured as an office, and had a couch with a fold out bed. Maria appeared to be a better than average house keeper. The only thing that looked 'untidy' was the breakfast dishes still in the sink. Everything else seemed normal for an apartment of a professional working woman. "It doesn't look like anyone else has been in here," said Esposito"

"Yeah, it all seems normal," added Ryan.

The search of the apartment revealed the presence of an occasional male guest, but nothing else that they thought would help them catch the killer. The canvass of the neighbors was unremarkable. They knew of Maria, they knew she worked in the DA's office, but they never socialized, and they hardly saw her. None of them recognized the picture of the boyfriend. As they were leaving the building they overheard the Doorman tell Kate that Maria had parking spot number 304, but she almost always used a cab or the subway because parking near her office was impossible.

On the way to the parking spot Kate explained that the Doorman had told her that Tony is a recent boyfriend. As far as he knows they have been seeing each other for around four months, he occasionally stays overnight and they seem genuinely happy together. The last time he saw them was Wednesday morning when they shared a cable going to work. Kate explained that the interview with the boyfriend went ok, he has an alibi that needs to be checked, but he was quick with times and places, perhaps too quick, thought Kate to herself.

When they saw Maria's car, Esposito remarked," I guess we can move personal to the top of the list." For it was quite obvious that Maria's car had been recently and emphatically keyed.

"So let's get CSU down here to go over the car. We also need to ask the Doorman for the video for the garage for the last couple of days."

Back at the precinct Kate described the visit to the Law Firm and her interview with the boyfriend.

"Good afternoon Mrs. Snow, I'm Detective Kate Beckett and I need to speak with Tony Clarke please."

"Do you have an appointment?"

"No"

"I'm sorry his schedule is showing full today. I can make an appointment for you for two weeks from next Thursday."

"Did I fail to mention that I am Detective Beckett? I am a homicide detective and I am investing the death of his girlfriend Maria Martinez. If he does not want to see me now I more than willing to call several Uniform Officers who will fetch him from his office and transport him downtown. Where he can wait until I'm ready to talk to him. The only reason I'm his is out of compassion for his loss and a sense of professional courtesy. "

"I'll see if he's available to see you Detective."

Thought you might thought Kate.

"Go right up."

When Kate got off of the elevator on the 33rd flour she was met by another lawyer.

"Detective Beckett, I'm Kate Hughes. I'm one of the Associates that support Mr. Clarke. This way please. If you don't mind I'd like to sit in."

"I have no objections, but that will be Mr. Clarke's call."

Old money thought Kate, noticing the wooden furniture, thick carpets, and art hanging on the mahogany paneled walls.

"Here we are," said Kate Hughes. "Go right in."

Mr. Clarke's window office was modest in size, had a decent view and was decorated with NY Rangers memorabilia.

"Good afternoon Detective, I'm Tony Clarke, you've met Kate, and this is Simon George, our house counsel," said Mr. Clarke rounding his desk to meet her."Please be seated," motioning Kate toward a small round conference table capable of handing four people.

"Hope you don't mind if I sit in Detective, "said Mr. George. "The Senior Partners like to know what's happening when a Police Officer interviews a member of our staff."

"Not at all Sir," replied Kate.

"Mr. Clarke I'm sorry for your loss, but this morning Maria Martinez was found shot to death in a City vehicle located in a Holiday Inn Parking lot. We are hoping you could help us in determining who might want her dead."

"Of course I'll co-operate in any way I can. My hunch though is that its work related. She is a great girl, I don't know of anybody who would want to harm her."

"That's where we are concentrating also," said Kate in any effort to gain his trust. "When did you first meet Maria?"

"About six months ago on a case. I was doing pro bona work…"

"The Firm encourages that from its Associates and Junior Partners," added Mr. George.

"…and she and Mr. Fleming were the opposing council. We settled on a plea bargain, and after the Case I asked Maria out and was surprised and delighted that she accepted. We hit it off and things are ... were starting to get serious, and now she's dead."

"When was the last time you saw her?"

"Wednesday morning, we shared a cab that morning. We had plans for last night. I had two tickets to the Rangers-Bruins game, she called around six and said something came up at work and hoped I didn't mind going solo. I went, it was Rick Nash bobble head night," waving in the general direction at a shelf with bobble heads,"I sold by other ticket on the street. After the shootout win I went to 'Forecheck' around 10:15 for the best cheeseburgers and beer in the city. I got home around 11:20 called Maria, left a voice message and went to bed."

"Did Maria have any trouble with any of her ex's?"

"We never talked about her ex's Detective. I still think it was case related."

"I know, but I must be through." After a long moment, "If you think of anything please let me know," said Kate rising from her chair."

"Certainly Detective."

"Detective Beckett," said Mr. George. "Please allow me to escort you out?" As they approached the elevator Mr. George leaned in and said softly in a slightly threatening voice. "Detective you know you really frightened Mrs. Snow with your attitude when you showed up here?"

Kate half turned looked up at Mr. George and replied, "Mr. George, I never forget that I am a Homicide Detective. It is my job to take killers off of the street before they can kill again. That means that occasionally I can't play nice. I'm sorry if I upset Mrs. Snow, but I do have a job to do."

Nodding Mr. George said, "I understand. …Catch the killer Detective. I met Maria when Tony brought her to our Christmas party. Besides being attractive, she seemed like an intelligent and compassionate woman. I'll talk to Mrs. Snow. "

"I have a great Team Sir. We will catch whoever is responsible."

**The murder board at the precinct looked like this**

**Victim:** Maria Martinez, age 26, ADA (boss is Ted Fleming)

**COD: ** Four small caliber bullets center mass. Three looked like they hit the heart

**TOD: **9 – 12 PM

**TOX screen: ** TBD

**Notes:**

Special Attention

Midtown Hotel in City Vehicle

**Forensics:** We will have the bullets

**Speculation: ** Case related?, Personal?

**Follow up: ** ADA, Boyfriend? Car, Garage video. Laptop

The end of shift case review was guarded but optimistic. They had no real leads yet, but they were just starting to look. When Esposito asked Kate why she took a picture of the Murder Board Kate replied with a grin, "For Castle, it keeps his mind off of other things."

**Castle in Chicago**

When Castle woke he cautiously opened one eye and looked to his right. Darn, he sighed, still no Kate. I guess I'm going to have to dream harder. Sitting up his eyes wandered to the flowers. We are quite a pair aren't we love? You are a beautiful Fool and me a Jackass. I got to find a way to work that into one of the books.

Castle made sure he was in his room at nine o'clock when the florist came. When he read the cards 'From a Fool' 'To Her Jackass' had started to laugh when he wondered what the people who write the messages on the card thought about them. After texting Kate '10pm EDT OK Love?' he settled down to flesh out more Paladin and Squire Ideas.

It must be the boutonniere, thought Gina; Castle hates the snow and yet here is smiling like its summertime. The crowd at the first book signing was sparse, but the crowd at the book reading was standing room only plus. This time the crowd wanted to hear Rick read the couch scene, the one Gina wanted. Part way through the reading Rick paused as he flashed back to the couch scene he and Kate experienced last Sunday night. When he began again, his reading had such passion and tenderness that the entire audience thought it was the best dramatic reading ever. After the last well-wisher had departed, Rick bundled Gina in a cab for the hotel, while he went to the Field Museum.

No matter how many times Castle came to this museum he was always impressed by Sue, the T-Rex, and apprehensive when he toured the Tsavo Lion exhibit. He imagined Kate on his arm as he walked through the Ancient Americas, and longed to be a kid again so he could play in the PlayLab. The Museum is still magical thought Castle. No matter how I feel coming in I always leave with a sense of awe and wonder. I wish I could share this place with Kate.

"Hey Castle how did you like the snow," teased Kate?

"I just pretended I had a beautiful woman on my arm all day and the snow disappeared."

"Anybody I know?"

"I don't know. I can't remember her name, but I think it begins with a K."

"You…," laughed Kate. "How was the rest of your day?"

"Pretty much the same, the fans finally asked me to read the couch scene. When I started reading it all I could think about was us, you know the Fool and the Jackass. I was thinking of writing it into my next book."

"Don't you dare write that in your book Castle," said Kate with a touch of anger. You know it is sort of funny. "Martha saw us you know."

"What did she say? What did you say?"

"Not much, only that we had an argument and we are working it out. What did you do the rest of the day?"

"It was a short day today and I went to the Field Museum." As soon as Castle started gushing on about the Museum Kate zoned out a bit an imagined Castle as a ten year old racing from exhibit to exhibit constantly being told not to touch. That is one of the things I love about him. He is still a kid at heart. "…and I wish you could have been here with me Kate."

"Me too. Hey, we caught a new case."

"I saw, a dead ADA. No wonder you guys got the assignment. I've only got one thing to say, well two things actually. It was someone she knew and only a fool drives a public car to a private meeting."

"Exactly," said Kate. "Right now the boyfriend's alibi sounds good, and I'm going to talk with her boss tomorrow about what she was working on."

"I think he and his folks need to take a course on counter-surveillance tradecraft," said Castle. "It might have kept her alive."

"I not sure that's high up on the DA's priority list Castle."

After a lengthy pause, "Kate I heard this story today, but I don't remember how it ends. Perhaps you could help me. It's about a Fool and her Jackass."

"Oh," said Kate.

"The Fool and the Jackass were walking down a path when the Fool stops to smell a pretty flower. The Jackass sees that there is a bee in the flower and bumps the Fool out of the way. As the Fool stumbles she lashes out and hits the Jackass and yells at him for bumping her away from the flower. He is hurt and confused. As the Fool walks away the Jackass stays behind. Finally the Fool notices his absence and comes back for him. Later as they are walking down the path the Jackass sees the Fool stumble and flail out with her arm. Not wanting to be hurt again, he bolts and is now far from home and wondering if the Fool wants him back."

"Oh Castle," whispered Kate. After a brief pause she continued," The Fool most definitely misses her Jackass and desperately wants him back. The Fool is a little wiser now. She knows that she was entrusted with something so special that it can't be seen, so extraordinary that it couldn't be touched, so unique that it couldn't be smelt or tasted. She had been entrusted with his love. The thought of losing it has caused the Fool to panic. They say that Jackasses never forget, but can they forgive?"

"Yes, I love you Kate."

"I love you Castle…Do you think if the Fool kisses the Jackass he will turn into a handsome Prince?"

"Handsome maybe, but not a Prince."

"Why not? It would make a great story."

Laughing," I guess it would."

"Tomorrow Castle," said Kate.

"Tomorrow Castle," repeated Rick.

**Friday**

Kate arrived a little before eight o'clock at ADA Ted Fleming's office to find him already hard at work. "ADA Fleming, I'm Detective Kate Beckett. I'm one of the officer's working your assistant Maria's case."

Offering his hand and waving Kate to a seat,"Ted, Detective."

"Kate," responded Kate.

"I would like to know what cases she was working on, and if you have any idea why she was at the hotel Wednesday night."

"Do you think it was case related?"

"Don't know, we are all ready investigating into her personal life for suspects, we need to look into her professional life as well."

"The list of cases is no problem. I can't tell you about the hotel though."

"Can't because you don't know or won't?" When the ADA didn't respond Kate continued. "Look Ted, if you know something that can help me find Maria's killer you're obligated to tell me."

"I can't comprise a case."

"She was you assistant don't you want to see her killer caught?"

"Of course I do but I can't compromise a case."

After a long moment Kate reached for her phone, "This Detective Kate Beckett Badge Number 41319, the writing ADA please….Yes I need an obstruction of justice warrant for a Mister Ted Fleming….Yes ADA Fleming that is the one….Yes I'll hold….I'm currently in his office….Yes I'll hold."

A minute letter the DA open the door looked at both of them and said in an exacerbated voice, "You two my office now."

"Guess I'm no longer on hold," muttered Kate.

"What's this all about," said the DA.

"Sir, I believe ADA Fleming has information I need to identify Maria Martinez's killer, but he refuses to tell me."

Sir, I can't afford to comprise the case," replied ADA Fleming.

"Sit," said the DA. "Detective, why don't you start with telling us what you know and suspect."

"Yes Sir. Maria made a mistake by showing up at the hotel in a vehicle that is so easily tracked."

"Please," said ADA Fleming. "This sounds like it comes straight from one of your husband's books."

"Do you know how easy it would be to find out where that vehicle has been," challenges Kate? "Someone claiming to be a reporter calls someone in the Motor Pool and says they are doing a special on fraud and abuse by high level city employees. His focus is specifically on car abuse. He jokes that they should not be allowed to use the vehicles for personal use. They should use the mass transit system like everyone else. He offers to pay the guy fifty dollars for each report he can give him. He is only interested in the vehicles that were checked out over night or had a return after eight PM. If he can he would like a whole week's worth of reports. That's three hundred and fifty dollars. That's enough to treat your wife to a good night out and still have enough left to buy that new bowling ball. He would continue, if I'm wrong you are three hundred and fifty dollars richer. If I'm right you got paid for doing the right thing. It's a no-lose situation for you. …. That's just one scenario. There are obviously more ways to get that information."

"That sounds like more than mere speculation Detective," said the DA.

Kate shrugged and continued, "My husband is a good crime novelist. One of the major reasons is his feel for authenticity and his ability to convey that to his readers. He gets that by doing extensive research. What he attempts to do and what he succeeds in doing in the name of 'Research' never ceases to amaze me. "

"Ok Detective continue," said the DA.

"The primary reason a woman like Maria would go a Hotel like that is to meet her lover, since she seems to be in a healthy relationship right now and her boyfriend's alibi while it needs to be checked seems solid. I'm putting that line of investigation on the back burner."

"The primary reason an ADA goes to a Hotel like that is to meet a source or to talk to a witness under protection. If I had to make a guess it would be that she is supporting you on the Swanson case and she met with Jimmy the Hook of the Mori Crime family who is rumored to be in protective custody prior to the trial." When the ADA's jaw dropped Kate continued, " I sure hope you relocated him by the way," said Kate sweetly.

"If this is true," said the DA, "What do you need?"

"It's reasonable to assume that you would be somewhat proactive in respect to Jim's life. I think you have established some bugs on select individuals and locations and you have selected people under surveillance. I don't them to break their cover or have the places where you have electronic surveillance compromised. What I do need to know is has anyone heard or saw anything that might point me in the direction of the killer."

"Ok," said the DA, "Ted co-operate fully with the Detective." Waving in the general direction of the door, the pair took the cue and left his office.

On the way back to ADA Fleming's office he asked, "Do you always play hard ball to get the things you want Detective."

"That," said Kate in a dismissive tone. "That was T-ball. If you want to watch hardball come watch my partner and I interrogate suspects. Now that's hardball." Back in his office Ted revealed the points of contact for the electronic and physical surveillance activities. Thanking Ted for his co-operation Kate moved into Maria's work area to see what she could learn.

"Hey Javier," said Kate," Is Kevin there…Good. Put me on speaker. Guys, I just texted you a couple of names. They are responsible for performing surveillance for the DA on an upcoming case. Talk to them about our victim. See if they have heard or seen anything we can use. I'm going to spend some time here going through Maris's desk and talk to some of her co-workers. Anything new there? "

"We got the Coroner's report, a preliminary CSU report, and the Laptop dump from Tech. Some interesting items."

"OK let's try to synch up right after lunch and decide where we go from here."

"Works," said Esposito and Ryan together.

Kate's examination of Maria's work area and talks with her co-workers adds no new insights.

Similarly Esposito and Ryan's discussion with the surveillance team provided nothing useful for them. The surveillance team looked worried when Esposito remarked that things appeared to be too normal, it was like the Family didn't think or care if Jimmy the Hook testified or not.

Dr. Perlmutter's report confirmed that Maria had died from bullets fired from a 22 caliber weapon. Maria's Tox screen was negative and she had not been sexual assaulted. The only new information was that ballistics had matched the bullets to a previous murder. Debra Brown had been killed with the same weapon a little over ten years ago.

The CSU report was not very helpful. There were no unaccounted for fibers in the car. There were however eight different sets of prints. They had identified all of them as being members of the Motor Pool or the DA's office. The list was useful but not that much help.

Examining the information Tech had provided from Maria's laptop provided a real puzzler, she had ordered a background check on her boyfriend. The email thread would have led everyone to believe that she had received the check but no trace of it was on her machine.

"Why did she feel the need to do a background check on her boyfriend," asked Kate out loud?

"Maybe she was getting serious and wanted to know more about him," offered Esposito.

"You did do a background of Castle before you married didn't you Beckett," teased Ryan.

Everyone noticed the sidelong glance at the flowers, and Kate's glare was totally undone by the laughter in her eyes," Yeah right," she said.

"Ok if she felt a need then so do we. Let's order the work up for Mr. Tony Clarke. Also let's get the details on the Debra Brown case. "

Kate's check of Mr. Clarke's alibi confirmed that he bought the Hockey tickets in early February, both tickets were used, and food and drinks at the Forecheck on the night of the murder we paid for with his credit card.

When the list of Maria's past and current cases arrived from ADA Fleming's office, Kate divided them among the Team. Every member of the Team thought that the murder was personal in nature, but their investigation had not produced any serious suspects. From what they had put together Mr. Clarke was Maria's first serious boyfriend since she joined the DA's office and he appeared to have a solid alibi. Until the background check, phones, and financials came in and the Debra Brown case file retrieved they had nothing better to do than slog through the case files in the hope of discovering a suspect.

The end of shift case review was still guarded. Even though they had no solid suspects a couple of things still did not make sense and running them to ground could produce a suspect.

**Castle in Chicago**

Castle awoke to find he was still alone. Alas, his 'Dream Girl' was still in NYC. Even so, he felt much better. After last night he thought that he and Kate had worked out all of the issues from last Sunday's adventure and could move forward. Castle finished breakfast in plenty of time to meet the florist for this morning's flowers and cards. He would be the first to admit that Kate's cards where one of the bright spots of his day, and he have to properly thank her when he got home. When he read 'Rain Check for' 'A Double Feature' he smiled. After all it was Friday and tonight was movie night.

When Castle checked his schedule he cringed. Another Gina cram session he thought; an 11-1 Book signing, followed by a 2:30 till 5:30 signing/reading and ending in a reception from 7:00 till 10:00. At least the reception was in this hotel remarked Castle. After texting 'Late night 1130 EDT OK', Castle reviewed the Murder Boards that Kate had sent him, and then began fleshing out additional Derrick Storm ideas.

For Castle today was a carbon copy of some may other days on the road. It was still gratifying to see the people line up for him to sign their books, and the attention of the audience as he read was heartwarming, but he missed Kate. When Castle read the couch scene for this audience they responded with a standing 'O'. Castle smiled, not because of the applause, but because he remembered Kate in his arms on makeup Monday.

The reception was straight out of the standard playbook, try not to eat or drink too much and move from conversation pit to conversation pit always being polite always being seen. This reception was a Black Swan affair. They were hosting the bookstore owners to thank them for hosting us for the week and also push to get more Black Swan books on to the shelves.

"Hey Castle, said Kate, "How was your day?"

"Pretty tame actually. I got to read the couch scene again. I think you really are my muse. When I started to read it all I could think about was us, and well the audience liked it."

"I told you never to call me that," said Kate in a mock angry voice. In a softer voice she continued, "When you get home you're going to have to read that section to me."

"I'd rather act it out."

"That would be nice too."

After a moment of enjoyable silence," I got your cards this morning. What's playing at the Valencia?"

"It a Clint Eastwood weekend, a Dirty Harry double feature tonight, Saturday is all of the Man with No Name films, and Sunday some of his films as a Director."

"I could have used the dialogue refresher course. By the way what are you wearing? "

"Just some old sweats why?" When Kate heard the disappointed Oh, the words she had spoken to Castle many years ago flashed into her mind. 'Castle, are you afraid of a little role play?'

In a voice as low, as sultry and as sexy as Kate could imagine she continued, "I'm sitting here all alone. I'm wearing a three piece, light blue, semitransparent, silky, and clingy thing." Hearing Castle's gulp Kate continued, "It's you know too tight in the chest and I can't reach the snaps. My boyfriend is out of town. Could you come over and loosen them for me?" Hearing Castle gulp again Kate continued. "If you could loosen it for me I'd be so appreciative."

"Kate," Castle rasped."Kate you could be the number one Phone Goddess in the universe," laughed Castle.

"You like," laughed Kate.

"I like," confirmed Castle. "I better hang up now or I'll never get to sleep. Tomorrow Castle," said Rick.

"Tomorrow Castle," repeated Kate. Lingerie shopping thought Kate I need a three piece, light blue, semitransparent, silky, and clingy ensemble. This is one fantasy I want to act out.

**Saturday**

When Kate turned off the alarm she turned toward Castle's side of the bed, reached out and touched his pillow frowned then smiled. I miss you, she thought. She smiled when she thought about last night's 'tease'. It had been fun. Lingerie shopping was definitely on the schedule. We've made it past Henri and now we can go on. Maybe not yet, I still own you a story. It will be more painful for me to tell and for you to listen to. As you said we'll do it with the sun on our faces and the wind in our faces. Let the ghosts of relationships past be gone forever. He is traveling today so no flowers. I'll set up the same thing for him in Denver before I leave and Las Vegas on Wednesday.

When Kate arrived Esposito and Ryan already there shifting through Maria's case. Again they pretended not to watch as Kate carefully unwrapped the rose and placed it in the vase. The smile on her face was a different matter.

"What," she laughed when she noticed their stares?

"Castle," ventured Ryan nodding towards the flowers?

"Yeah," said Kate with a hint of a smile.

"Ok guys what do we know?"

"So far the past cases have given us nothing. Killing her for her current case doesn't make sense. You would follow her and kill the witness. Maybe you kill the lead ADA to delay the trial. It makes no sense to kill the second chair," began Esposito.

"Everything screams that the killing was personal," said Ryan. "The shooter was close to the victim. Several of the shots hit the heart. The message that they keyed into her car is unmistakable."

"I agree," said Kate. "So far I've not discovered an ex and her boyfriend's alibi appears to be solid. When did they promise the background check and the old case file?"

"IT promised to have the electronic version of the file uploaded by ten. I expect the background check information around lunch time," said Esposito.

"Right now I have the boyfriend attending the hockey game and later eating dinner at a sports bar where is known as a regular. His ticket was used and it was a bobble head figure night. He had that on display in his office so he either was there to collect the figure or someone got it for him. Is it possible for him to get from Madison Square Garden to the Hotel kill the victim and get to the sports bar with the after game crowd? If so how, public transportation? Cab? Private auto? How did he know to go to that hotel? And why did he want to kill her? "

"Considering the strength of the boyfriend's alibi going after him seems like a stretch Detective," said Captain Gates.

"Yes Sir," said Kate. "His alibi is strong because we accepted at face value and have not attacked it. We think we know that he went to the game. We know he showed up at Forecheck after the game. We don't know if he stated and watched the whole game. "

"We just looked at it Sir," said Esposito. "The game went to a shootout so that gave him some extra time. If he left midway through the first period and it took him thirty minutes to get to his car in Central Parking and forty minutes to get to the crime scene and it takes fifty minutes to get to the Forecheck from there, that would leave him at least forty minutes to wait for the victim to finish taking with Jimmy the Hook and go back to her car. So yes Sir it's doable."

"Ok," said Kate."Let's find out what type of car he has, and find if there are any traffic cameras near the Hotel we can use." "On it," said Ryan.

"I'm going to try to get a read on our victim's relationship with Mr. Clarke."

"How are you going to do that," asked Captain Gates?

"I'm going to talk with Mr. Clarke's secretary. Meanwhile until the background check and the old case file is posted we review the case files."

Nodding her approval, Captain Gates left the impromptu case review for her office so she could fill in the Chief on the progress of the case. That is one thing I like about Becket's Team, thought the Captain, even solid alibi's are subject to scrutiny.

After having her phone call route by the firm Kate finally heard, "This is Lisa how can I help you?"

"Lisa this is Detective Kate Beckett NYPD I'm investigating the murder of Maria Martinez. I understand she and your boss were seeing each other."

"Look Detective I'm uncomfortable discussing my boss on the phone."

"Ok I can come down there, or you can come here or we can meet for lunch. All I have is some routine questions it won't take long."

"Lunch, we can talk at lunch. I'll book a table in my name at the 'Painters Pagoda' on 44th for 12:30."

When the notification that IT had upload the old case file blinked on their monitors, the entire team stopped what they were doing and read the report. Ryan's " I don't believe in coincidences summed up their impression." Each woman had been shot through the heart four times with a 22 caliber weapon.

Debra Brown had been found dead sitting on the porch swing of her parent's house after spending the evening at the movies with her friends. Detective Mark Franks, the lead Detective on the case, had Gary Collins listed as the primary suspect. "Esposito see if Detective Franks will chat with us."

"On it," came the reply.

Who is the link between these two women thought Kate.

"Guys," announced Kate. " I have a lunch meeting with Lisa Smith. We should have the Background Check in hand soon. We'll digest that, synch up and plan what we do next."

Kate met Lisa Smith at the entrance to the Painters Pagoda. The Pagoda tried to cultivate an aura of serenity the jadish use of plants, screens, all with an oriental theme, aquariums and noisy fountains, and for the most part it succeeded. Castle would love this place as she chose from a Japanese oriented menu. Lisa Smith was a rather tall, attractive brunette in her mid twenties. She was dressed conservatively and appeared to be very comfortable talking to Kate.

After introductions had been made and orders placed Kate began. "Thanks for seeing me on such short notice. As I said I'm investigating the murder of Maria Martinez. Anything you could tell me about their relationship would be helpful. Were they close, getting closer, drifting apart, and treading water. Anything and everything would be helpful."

"How was she killed?"

"She was shot through the heart."

Lisa winced but begins, "I've met her a couple of times. She would drop in way after normal office hours. Sometimes she would bring food, other times they would order in or I would try to make them a reservation nearby."  
"Did you make all of the reservations for Tony and Maria?"

"Yes"

"Any changes, how often, where they went and so on?"

"No and Yes. Maria's been calling to cancel a lot more often. She had said she is working late preparing for a major case."

"Oh when did this start?"

"About a month ago."

"How would describe their relationship?"

"Good, he talks about her, and his face would light up when she came over. But she started cancelling he grew a little more hesitant a little more reserved toward Maria."

The conversation stopped as the food started to arrive.

Kate surprised Lisa by picking up the check. "I can't accept," said Lisa.

"Look when a lawyer buys a cop a lunch it's assumed to be a bribe. We a cop buys a lawyer lunch it's called something else. Beside it is a small price to pay to find someplace new where I can take my husband. Besides if we met for lunch again it will be your turn to buy ok? It's just lunch."

When Lisa nodded ok Kate hand the waiter her card. When the waiter returned with the bill and a polite "Have a good day Mrs. Castle," Lisa appeared surprised.

Seeing her expression Kate said, "I am Detective Kate Beckett of the NYPD," pointing at her badge, "and when I'm off duty I'm also Mrs. Richard Castle," said a smiling Kate.

"I'm a fan of your husband's books," said Lisa with a small smile.

"Me too," said Kate with answering smile. "Shall we?"

On the way back to the precinct Kate stopped to make a special purchase. It wasn't quite the right color, she thought, but it most definitely would do.

As far as Kate was concerned the rest of the afternoon was nothing but bad news. First Detective Franks claimed to being eaten by the paperwork monster and the earliest he can meet with them is Monday morning. At least he agreed to meet at the 12th, thought Kate. The worst news of all was the background check went no further back than the subjects 19th birthday.

The end of the day case review was again guarded. The Team had poured through the cases for the last year and nothing of substance suggested itself. No released felons seeking revenge, no family members seeking retribution, no leads at all. The parallels between the Maria Martinez and the Debra Brown cases were striking. Both women had been shot in the heart. To the Team that seemed like a very personal message. Their only suspect was the boyfriend who appeared to have a solid alibi, but not being able to see his entire background caused them to be suspicious.

Tomorrow the Team would try to find out more about Tony Clarke and maybe Detective Franks on Monday will provide additional enlightenment.

On the way home Kate thought she was being followed. She performed some of the counter surveillance maneuvers Castle had taught her but saw nothing. She didn't discount the feeling.

**Castle**

Castle woke up, looked hopefully toward Kate's side of the bed and sighed, still no Kate. In a week or so I will be back home and I won't have to hope. Rats thought Rick. It's travel day. I hate travel day. Rick rushed to clean-up, dress and pack. After he and Gina loaded the car and made their way to O'Hare Airport for their trip to Denver. Castle had never been a fan of the Airline check in and Security Screening process. Today was no exception, the line at Security seemed to go on forever and the time taken to screen each passenger seemed like an entirety. After making it through Security and finding their gate, Castle went back to buy coffees for he and Gina. ON his way back to his gate he heard the predicable; his flight had been delayed for one hour.

With nothing better to do Castle opened up is laptop and studied the image of the Murder Board. After reading the initial description of the Brown murder Castle concluded that the murders were performed by the same person, and that he was killing them because he thought they were betraying him. They had broken his heart. He was stopping theirs.

The rest of the day was the usual travel day blur. Get on the plane, sit for a while, fly for a while, wait for your baggage, drive to your hotel unpack and collapse a bit. In typical Gina fashion she waited until they had reached the hotel to spring her surprise.

"Hey Castle your early," smiled Kate. "What's up?"

"Kate Gina's got tickets to the Nuggets-Knicks game at the Pepsi Center today. It's in a private box."

"Ok I don't see the issue." When Castle didn't respond Kate thought for a moment more than said, "Are you asking my permission to go with Gina to the basketball game?"

"Yes"

Don't laugh thought Kate. It's important to him. Find out why. "Nothing else is going to happen at the game right?"

"Kate, no of course not."

I think I understand thought Kate, "Have you taken Gina to a basketball game before?"

"No"

"Meredith?"

"No"

"And you wanted me to be the first one you shared a game with?"

"Yes"

"That's sweet Castle. It really is. Of course you can go watch your beloved Knicks play basketball. What kind of a wife would I be if I said no?"

"Thanks love, and the Martinez Murder it was a crime of betrayal. Somehow she broke the killer's heart and he stopped hers forever. It's the same with the Brown Murder. Call you tomorrow?"

"Sure. You know what this means don't you…..I get to solve the Sunday Crossword Puzzle all by myself.

"Spoilsport," laughed Castle.

"Tomorrow Castle," said Kate.

"Tomorrow Castle," repeated Rick.

**Sunday**

Frustration was the operative word in the squad room of the 12th. Esposito and Ryan had looked at hours of traffic video of the traffic cams around the hotel and came up with nothing. The problem was that there were just too many way to get to the hotel that bypassed those cameras. They knew it was a long-shot, but having it come up empty still hurt.

Using primarily the financial records Kate was able to determine that on his 18th birthday Gary Collins had changed his name to Tony Clarke. A search of the Collins family history revealed that were an old money family. Gary was the youngest of four children. His three siblings ran various aspects of the family enterprise. Could it be, thought Kate, that Tony wanted to prove to the world that he could make it on his own without the benefit of the Collins name, or was there something else here? People change their names all of the time, it's not that suspicious. If so Castle would the prime suspect in every case.

The eleven o'clock meeting was the end of shift case review. Kate reviewed the new name for the boyfriend and the Boys reported a clean miss on the traffic video. The discussion with Detective Franks tomorrow was the next item on the agenda. Hopefully it would generate a lead.

The entire Team had scheduled Sunday afternoon to be physical training time. Kate was meeting a group in the gym around 11:30. She specifically wanted to work against a baton. She had planned to go the range after that. The Boys had adopted the other schedule. They were hitting the range first then thegym. While they didn't like being stuck on a case, they understood that neglecting the physical side of things could get them and their partners killed.

When Kate checked here phone after her PT activities she found she had one missed text from Castle. "Love you, midnight call ok?' After texting 'Yes', Kate hurried home. Her mind was on things other than Police work.

**Castle in Denver**

Castle awoke with a headache and a scratchy throat, must be the altitude he thought. After cleaning up and getting dressed Castle checked his schedule. A carbon copy of Chicago he grimaced, a booking signing from 11:00 till 1:00, a reading / book signing from 2:30 till 5:00 and a reception from 7:00 till 9:00. With the time difference a midnight call to Kate. I wonder if she is going to keep sending the flowers. She doesn't need to, but they sure were nice. I'll be back by nine just in case.

When the cards and the flowers and cards arrived Castle was all smiles. Kate you beautiful woman, he thought, I love you. When he read the cards 'Simple is Best' 'I Love You', Castle smiled and texted Kate the call time for tonight.

The day was better than most travel work day for Castle, the book signings were still a blur. The reading was a little fun; the audience wanted him to read yet another new section, the shootout. Just another example he thought, I've got a good book here, not just a one chapter wonder. Even the reception was better than normal. Black Swan was hosting the reception for the local Literary Alliance and had presented a check and an offer of the company's books. Castle got to talk to educators, the head of the local Library Commission and the Mayor. The highpoint of the evening was when the Mayor said that if Castle ever got tired of NYC Denver would welcome him, and they probably would hire him as a Police Consultant.

"Hey Castle," said a sleepy Kate. "How was your day?"

"Kate what's wrong," said Castle in a tone of voice that shook Kate awake?

"Nothing Castle why?"

"Your voice says something's bothering you. We are both masters of nothing Kate. When you say nothing like that, that means there's something. Talk to me."

"It's the case Castle," complained Kate. "We both know it's personal. As far as I can tell the victim has been in only one relationship since she moved here. That is with her current boyfriend. His alibi appears to be solid and I don't have probably cause to go fishing."

In a voice she had come to love Castle said, "Patience Kate. The break is coming and then you can nail this guy for both murders."

I wish, thought Kate I hate open cases. "You haven't told me about your day."

"Well I got to read yet another new section for the fans. I'm beginning to think they really like this book." When Castle sneezed and starting coughing Kate got concerned.

"You ok?"

"Sure, its nothing."

"Nothing Castle," said Kate in an irritated voice.

"OK, I woke up with a headache and a sore throat this morning. I'll take something for it tomorrow. Ok?"

"Ok"

"I got an interesting job offer today."

"Yeah, what?"

"As a consultant to the Denver Police Department. Of course we would have to move here."

He deserves that type of recognition thought Kate. "You considering it," asked Kate in a neutral tone?

"Not unless they made you the Chief of De's. Do you want me to start the negotiations," Castle said with a hint of laughter?

"No. I've moved once already this year, and it's such a hassle. Besides I'm not quite finished with the Loft yet."

With an over dramatic sigh Castle replied, "Then I guess I will remain the poor unappreciated shadow of a NYPD Homicide Detective."

"You are very much appreciated," said Kate in a soft clear voice. "Castle, if you don't mind could you talk about you and Gina."

"Basketball game?"

"Yeah, it made me wonder why you two broke up."

"Gina, ok….After Meredith I came back to NYC and Alexis became the focus of my life. My writing started to slip both in quantity and quality. Gina came by to see what was wrong. Really I think she came by to see if Black Swan should renew my contract or cut me lose. She helped me find a way to both write and take care of Alexis. Finally she spent the night, and then another. Until she became a major part of my life and it made sense to marry her. Our break up was caused by lots of things. After a while what I had once thought of as support turned into control. And I don't like being controlled. I'm ok with being a Partner. I'm not ok with being a perpetual follower. Gina was so practical oriented that we never did anything just for fun. She didn't understand that sameness spoils creativity. At least it does for me. That's one of the things I love about you Kate. When I propose some outrageous undertaking or doing something your schedule can't support you always propose an alternative.

Then there was Alexis. When Gina stepped in and tried to be a step-mother I fought her tooth and nail. Alexis was my daughter, how dare she. I was completely wrong. In your words I was being a complete Jackass. Add to that the fact that she is a shopaholic and very high maintenance. I mean if I didn't tell her ten times a day that she was pretty she would get upset. You. You're different. When I look into your eyes you seem to read my mind. When I reach for you, you reach back."

"A woman still likes to hear those things Castle."

"Kate you are the most beautiful, remarkable, and extraordinary women in the world."

"Flatterer,…Castle…," said Kate in voice that melted Castle's heart.

After a moment, "The second round with Gina was pretty much a replay of the first. I was late with the Nikki Heat book. I thought we were connecting, but when you lied to me about being free for the weekend and it sounded like you planned to spend it with Deeming I couldn't stand it and retreated to the Hamptons…."

I'm so sorry Castle, I'm so sorry, thought Kate. Not only did I lie to you I lied to myself. Never again love. Never.

"…. When I talked to Gina about my schedule recover plan, she decided to come along and protect Black Swan's interest. And frankly I needed her company. In the end she is still to controlling, not spontaneous enough for me, and high maintenance."

"Castle, ….i….Tomorrow Castle," said Kate.

"Tomorrow Castle," repeated Rick.

**Monday**

After Kate turned off the alarm she turned and looked at Castle's side of the bed, only another week to go thought Kate. As she got out of bed her eyes were drawn to the flowers her 'Jackass' had sent. Blowing a kiss in the direction of the flowers Kate thought there's your morning kiss Love, hurry home. Stretching she headed into the shower to prepare for the day.

The vase is getting crowded, thought the Boys, as they watched Kate perform her morning flower ritual. He must be coming home soon.

Detective Franks arrived just after eight. He walked off of the elevator and into the squad room. He looked around and saw Esposito, Ryan, and Beckett in front of a Murder Board. This is the right place he thought. Walking over he introduced himself, "Detective Beckett I'm Detective Franks, Mark"

"HI glad you could come over this is Javier, Kevin and I'm Kate." Waving Mark towards a chair Kate continued, "We caught a case that appears to have the same murder weapon as your Debra Brown Case. We were hoping you could tell us more than what was in the report."

Kate was not surprised when she saw Captain Gates sit down on the edge of the desk as Mark began his tale.

"The story is sad as you can expect," began Mark."On the evening of her death Debra Brown was playing chauffeur. She picked up three of her friends and went to the movies. On the way back she stopped at one of her friend's house to use the bathroom and then came home. Around eleven o'clock the father got concerned. He looked out saw the car in the driveway and his daughter sitting on the front porch swing. Thinking her safe he went to bed. The next morning when his wife found their daughter still on the swing and dead he was devastated."

"Who did you like for it," asked Esposito?

"You already have his picture on your board, Gary Collins."

"What happened?"

"We couldn't pin it on him. His alibi was good enough and we couldn't come up with any hard evidence. While the girls were at the movies, he and some friends were at the miniature golf, go-carts, and arcade complex. They all arrived around the same time and left after the TOD of the victim. They remember seeing him around, but not constantly around."

"He goes to a private school, they have a pistol team. He is on it we checked all of the pistols no joy. On the day after we tested him for GSR. He tested positive. He said that he had been down at the club that morning shooting. We checked and he was. I used up a lot of favors and got a search warrant for the Collins mansion. Again no joy. The father was furious, but he offered to let us test the weapons in the familys gun safe at the club. We did no murder weapon."

"What club," asked Kate?

"The NYC Gun club."

"What's your theory on why he did it," asked Ryan?

"We learned from his friends that he has a jealous streak. Debra's last stop was at her friend's house where she went in to use the bathroom. She has a brother that is two years older. I think Gary was driving to Debra's place to talk to her, that's was why she was waiting on the porch swing, Gary see's her coming out of the house..."

"Thinks that she spent the evening with the brother and goes ballistic," added Kate.

"Correct," said Mark, "He goes home gets his gun comes back, she is waiting and he shoots her. He's got more than ample time to hide the murder weapon."

"Why keep it? Why not throw it in the river, down a well," asked Captain Gates.

"Who knows," replied Mark.

"That helps a lot," said Esposito, "but it still doesn't tell us how he knew about the Hotel."

Looking first at the flowers then the empty chair Kate exclaims, "Castle…"

"Detective," said Captain Gates questioningly.

"Hear me out Captain. Suppose on one of the nights that she cancels dinner he decides to take dinner to her."

"Just like Castle does when we're working late," said Ryan.

Nodding Kate continues, "Yes. Now suppose he gets there, he sees his girlfriend get in a car and drive off. He follows her to the hotel. He sees her go into a hotel room with strange men. He automatically suspects the worst. The next day he asks her about it and of course she denies it because she does not want to compromise the location of the witness."

This would be Meredith all over again for Castle, thought Kate. I don't know what he would do. I know he wouldn't kill me. He would do worse, leave me.

"But what set him off," asked Esposito?

Kate immediately thought of Castle, Gina and the basketball game. "Hockey," she said. "This guy is a fanatic Rangers fan. He wanted to share his passion for the game with the woman he loved. When she cancelled…"

"…he felt betrayed," added Ryan.

"He got his gun, went to the hotel, confronted her and killed her," said Esposito.

"That's a good theory, but you are a little light on evidence," said Captain Gates.

That's what I always tell Castle, thought Kate. Looking once more at the flowers she said, "So now we know where to look and we make some evidence. Did you say he was a member of the NYC Gun Club?"

"His family was I don't know about him," replied Mark.

"Good luck getting those guys to confirm that he is a member," remarked Esposito.

"I don't know," said Kate. "As a member I don't need a court order to access the member's database to setup a match or to arrange instruction. Look a Gary Collins and he's been a member for eleven years."

"Right before he changed his name," said Ryan.

"Since when are you a member of the NYC Gun Club," asked Esposito?

"Since Castle added me to his membership."

"He shoots," continued Esposito?

"Yes, he's a rated Expert….With both hands," replied Kate smiling sweetly. The look of disbelieve on Esposito's face was as they say priceless.

"But how are we going to prove that he and Tony Clarke are the same person," asked Detective Franks?

Looking at Esposito and Ryan, "I need four sterile photo arrays, no prints; mine need to be on there to alleviate suspicion. Let's not make the job any more difficult for CSU then when need to."

"Writing ADA please….This is Detective Kate Beckett badge number 41319 I need a warrant to search a gun safe at the NYC gun club belonging to Tony Clarke aka Gary Collins for a 22 caliber weapon used to kill Maria Martinez and Debra Brown. Thanks."

"Lisa, this is Detective Kate Beckett again. I need to see your boss about Maria's murder; I'll only need ten minutes. I have some photo arrays I would like him to go through. It's a long shot but if he could help us nail Maria's murder….forty-five minutes…If the traffic gods are kind I can make it."

"Lights and siren Detective," said Captain Gates as Kate was dialing another number.

"Sue Burlington please, ….Sue, Detective Beckett. As soon as the warrant's signed I'm going to need a fingerprint unit to go with Esposito and Ryan to the NYC Gun Club, if you can take two vehicles because we will want to bring back some weapons for ballistics' match, its Maria's case. In about an hour and a half I'll be bring back some papers for a fingerprint match, same case. …I just got the notification we have a good warrant. Esposito and Ryan will meet your team there."

"Detective Beckett," said Detective Franks, "If this is the SOB that killed Debra, I'd like to be there when you arrest him."

"Done," said Captain Gates without a moment's hesitation.

"Guy's," said Kate when they came back with the photo arrays, "We have a good warrant," nodding toward the paper on the corner of her desk. "CSU will have a fingerprint team there and a courier for the weapons. If they don't have a courier…"

"Then one of us will bring it back. Yes Mother," said Esposito.

Kate's glare turned into a smile and then a laugh as see heard Captain Gates unsuccessfully try to change a laugh into a cough.

"Detective Franks if you want to go with Javier and Kevin fine. Taking you with me .."

"…would be a bad idea. No. I will wait here. I'll just use a guest terminal to catch up on some paperwork."

Nodding Kate dialed another number, "Mike this is Kate Castle. You are about to be visited by Detectives Esposito and Ryan. They have a valid warrant to look into one of the member's gun safes for a murder weapon. They should be through too long so they won't disrupt too much. ….Who… Gary Collins…..Thanks."

"Guys," said Kate as they were scrambling toward the elevator. "When you get there ask for Mike Armstrong. He is the club secretary. He is pulling the keys to open the safe. He is an ok guy. Tell him what he needs to know."

After the Team had literally ran to the elevator Detective Franks turned to Captain Gates and said, "My complements Captain. That is a first rate Team."

"I know," replied the Captain, "but don't tell them I said that." With that she returned to her office to handle the precincts other fires.

The Boys arrived at the Gun Club only a minute before CSU. Kate's call had effectively greased the skids. The CSU fingerprint team successfully collected fingerprints on the guns and ammunition. The suspect had three 22 caliber weapons in his gun locker. They were all transported to CSU for testing.

Arriving at the law firm, Kate breezed past Mrs. Snow and was chatting with Lisa with two minutes to spare. When the door to Mr. Clarke's office opened Lisa stood up and beckoned Kate to follow. "Sir," said Lisa, "Detective Beckett needs ten minutes. It's about Maria. I'll see Mrs. Smith out."

"Mrs. Smith Lisa will see you out I need to speak with this officer. Detective Beckett what can I do for you."

"I have four photo arrays Sir," said Kate deliberately leaving them one on top of the other when she places them on the table. "If you could look to see if there is anyone familiar I would appreciate it. Look I know it's a long shot but stranger things have happened."

Kate smiled when she saw him use his fingers to move the sheets. "These are some felons from her previous cases that have been recently released and may be in the area. If any of them seem familiar then we can chat with them. If not then I don't have cause."

She was not surprised when Mr. Clarke said, "No sorry Detective none of the people her look familiar."

"That's ok Sir. I knew it was a longshot, but it needed to get done."

"Anything else Detective?"

"No Sir, Thank you for your time." If I'm right I'll be back here real soon.

When Kate rushed in the CSU spaces she was surprised to find Sue Burlington waiting for her.

"Whoa, Detective slow down."

"Sue this is for…"

"I know. I know. You are going to have to be patient. We have a slight problem; we can't do ballistic tests right now. The part is due here in thirty minutes and will take fifteen minutes to install; five minutes to calibrate then we can begin. We will have everything done in no later than two hours."

"What about the fingerprint matches?"

"Ten minutes, now that you have given us the sheets. Have you eaten lunch yet?"

When Kate shakes her head no Sue continues, "I read somewhere that some famous General said that food and rest were as important as guns and bullets. While I'm not suggesting that you take a nap I do suggest you eat. I will personally call you with the results." When Kate still looked reluctant to go Sue leaned in and said in a hushed voice, "Does your husband have to force feed you while you're working a case?"

Kate flashed back all the times Castle had brought her food at the precinct and all of the times she had forced him while he was writing.

"Sometimes," Kate smiled, "and sometimes I have to force feed him when he's writing."

"Sounds like a good partnership."

It's a great partnership, thought Kate. Both women looked at each other and started laughing. "The best," said Kate, "I'll get out of your hair and go eat lunch."

"I'll call you Detective."

After Kate had left Sue said to no in in particular, "Detectives, you just have to know how to talk to them."

It wasn't ten minutes. It was more like an hour and ten minutes before Sue called Kate with the news. In that time Kate had returned to the precinct, eaten her lunch and was pretending to read the latest bulletins online while really starting at the flowers. When the phone rang Kate's neutral "Detective Beckett … I see" was no hint that the Team had received good news. When Kate got out of her chair and headed for the Captain's office Esposito and Ryan new it was good news and started to reach for their jackets. As Kate was saying "Captain, do you have a minute?….." Ryan was calling for Uniformed Officer support and Esposito was telling Detective Franks it was road trip time.

The scene at the law firm was anticlimactic. When Detective Franks arrested Tony Clarke for the murders of both Maria Martinez and Debra Brown Mr. Clarke sobbed and told Lisa to have Mr. George meet them at the 12th.

With no opportunity to interrogate the suspect and the congratulations from the Captain still ringing in their ears Kate announced the game plan for tomorrow and released her troops. Right after the Boys had left Kate sat at her desk. Her gaze kept shifting from the flowers to the chair and back. See Castle she thought, we can solve cases without you. She reached out and gently touched a rose, but they are not as much fun. With a sigh she tidied up her desk and left for the Loft.

Mr. Lei, the owner of the Golden Dragon, smiled when he saw Kate come into his restraint and slide into the booth the Castle's normally used. Kate ordered her usual and positioned her hand on the table as if she was holding Castle's hand. It was not hard to imagine his smiling face across from her.

The early departure from the 12th and the early dinner gave Kate time for a luxury she had not enjoyed in while, a long bath and a nap before talking with Castle. She had come to enjoy their chats, but she much preferred him to be in arms reach. Just another week she thought before she dozed off.

**Castle in Denver**

When Castle woke up he felt horrible. Just what I need he thought a touch of the flu. The shower helped revive him, but he knew he would need to take something to get through the day, and this day's schedule was full day. He had a book signing, followed by two combination book signings / reading sessions. I wonder what the fans will have me read today. After texting "Love you, midnight ok?" to Kate Castle left in search of breakfast. The flowers were once again beautiful and when Castle read Kate's cards 'The Knicks Are' 'A NYC Team' he remarked 'I guess I know how she feels about a move.'

When the alarm went off Kate turned it off stretched, reset it to the normal wake-up time, glanced quickly at the new painting on the wall, grabbed her phone and walked to the couch and curled up to await Castle's call. Kate patted the couch cushions and smiled. The last time she and Castle had been here had been….remarkable. Lost in the pleasant daydream Kate was startled to read 12:05 on her phone. Castle's late, he's never late, Kate thought as she pressed his speed dial button.

"Kate," said Gina, "its Gina."

"Gina? Rick? Where's Castle? Gina is he ok?"

"Kate I think he has a touch of the flu. Between the travel, the irregular meals, all the people he meets, and the amount of energy he puts into event, I think he wore down a bit and the flu got him. Both readings today were spectacular by the way, but when got back to the hotel he said he wasn't feeling well so we ate dinner here. After dinner I thought he was running a fever so I put him to bed and called the concierge Doctor. He's with him now. Why don't you hang on the phone? When the doctor comes out I'll put you on speaker and he can tell us both at the same time. "

"Gina I just feel so helpless sitting here."

"I'm not going to ask you not to worry, that would be stupid, but Kate trust me I'm not going to let anything bad happen to Castle. If it's something more than the flu we will take care of it and I will let you know immediately. "

After a brief silence, "Ok, How is the trip going?"

"Spectacular actually. At each event we ran out of books. This could be his best best seller ever. We may have to consider a second printing. Kate I don't mean to pry but is the couch scene in the book you and Rick? I mean we he reads it he does it with such passion and tenderness it's almost as if he is reliving it."

"No its fiction." Ours are better thought Kate, much better, and certainly funnier, Kate thought remembering last Sunday's Fool and Jackass adventure.

"Kate the Doctor is coming out of the bedroom. Doctor I have Mrs. Castle on speaker."

"Nothing to worry about Mrs. Castle. Just a very mild case of the flu. I gave him some over the counter medicine for coughing and sneezing. I good night's rest is what he needs most. He should be his normal self tomorrow. The fever should run its course tonight so force him to drink a little more water tomorrow if you can. Questions?...Again nothing to worry about. Night ladies."

"Gina I'm going to hang up and call back please let it go to voice mail, and Gina thanks."

Kate's voice mail was short and to the point. "I love you Castle. Call me. I need to hear your voice.

**Tuesday**

**Tuesday Moring at the 12th**

The mood in the squad room was still jubilant. They had arrested the murderer of the ADA and helped close a ten year old case. The rumor mill had it that the culprit was trying to work a plea deal to avoid a Murder One charge. Everyone thought they could get the paperwork done and get a workout in before lunch and maybe, if they hadn't caught a case, some more time on the firing range.

The Boys had just left for the gym when Castle called.

"Hey Castle," said Kate, "feeling better?"

"Yeah, Got your message and the cards," which read 'My Partner Does' 'Not Do Paperwork'. "Did you close the ADA case?"

"Yes, it was the boyfriend. He also committed a murder ten years ago. Mike is going to be very unhappy when he learns that the murderer stored the murder weapon in his safe at the Gun Club."

"You got that right. I'll call you after the reception 11:30 your time ok?"

"Sure, bye Love"

Finishing the last report Kate looked at her Dad's watch. Not bad she thought, paper work is complete, the murder board is clear, the case box is on its way to storage, and Castle is ok. Hitting the gym before lunch seemed like an excellent idea. At the end of her regular workout, Kate worked against a club for an extra fifteen minutes with very little success. If this guy is any good, thought Kate I could be in trouble.

It was still quite after lunch and the Boys signed out to the Range. Kate contemplated joining them then backed off. Instead she started to populate the murder boards with their last two unsolved cases. Sitting on the edge of her desk staring at the boards she did not hear Captain Gates approach.

"Why put those back up Detective? The home invasion / robbery theory seems to be holding and it doesn't look like you have a lead," said Captain Gates.

"Castle doesn't buy the robbery theory sir. He thinks it's a boyfriend. But whose we don't know. This boyfriend killed the artist and is killing the models because his girl sat for the victim and dumped him. As I said we don't know where to look."

"If that's true then, the other two women are in danger."

"Only Janet Campbell Sir, Henri never completed a study of Cindi Roberts. Esposito and Ryan have already talked to Janet about the possibility of her being a target. She was more concerned about her boss finding out that she posed than anything else. Unlike the other victims, here building has a doorman 24/7 and her apartment door is well constructed and has several good locks."

"You haven't asked for a protection detail for her."

"Based on what we have here Captain, if I asked for one would you approve it?"

"No I wouldn't. Until you come up with a credible lead, I'm going to keep assigning you cases. "

"Understood Sir."

**Castle in Denver **

Castle woke when the phone rang with a 10:00 Am wake-up call that Gina had set. When Rick wandered into the main room of the suite he found his phone on the charger and today's flowers. After a quick call to Kate to assure her he was ok, congratulate her on solving the case, and setting the time for tonight's phone call. He cleaned up and went downstairs in search of lunch.

Today was a light day with just a midafternoon book signing / reading and the typical Black Swan thank you reception for the book store owners that had hosted them. Castle had already decided that it would a room service dinner after he talked to Kate.

"Hey Castle, feeling better?"

"Much," Rick replied. "Now I'm just feeling lonely and tired. I guess you guys don't need me around to solve cases anymore. How did you figure it out?"

"I thought of you. ...She lied to him Castle. She thought she had to in order to protect the witness and her case, but he didn't know the reason. All he knew was that she lied to him. When he caught her in the lie he became upset. The trigger was he had planned to share with her something important to him, and when she cancelled and lied about it he snapped. Castle I may have to keep a secret from you but I won't lie to you. I see now how even 'white' lies can hurt. If I tell you it's a secret drop it ok. I don't want my job to come between us." pleaded Kate.

"His wish to share the Hockey game with the victim made me wish I had told you no about the basketball game. We are lucky you and I. We get share in each other's professional lives. I get to share cases with you, and you share Nikki Heat with me. I know I complain when you ask me to read your drafts, but don't stop asking, ok. I do rather enjoy it. "

"I'll never lie to you Kate. I expect that in return. If you tell me to drop I'll try. You know me." said Castle in a low voice.

After a moment Kate continued, "Castle in the past week we've talked more than we've done in all the years that we've known each other."

"I agree. It's like we made a date to talk. When we are together I want to hold and kiss you, take you places and do things that make memories. I don't want to live in the past. On this trip I can't reach out and touch you. The only thing I can do is talk. So in order to keep you close to me I talk. I miss you Kate."

"Me, too. I miss you too. Tomorrow Castle," said Kate.

"Tomorrow Castle," repeated Rick.

**Wednesday**

Like the previous mornings, after Kate turned off the alarm she turned and touched Castle's pillow. I miss you and love you more than ever. Maybe we ought to do a date talk night, thought Kate. No, bad idea. We'll just do it when we need to. Kate rose and been getting ready to go to work, her other home at the 12th.

When the Boys arrived they saw Kate leaning on her desk staring at the murder boards, but she looked a lot less tense then yesterday. After hanging their coats on the backs of their chairs they joined her at the board.

"Any ideas," asked Esposito?

"Castle doesn't buy the robbery angle. His guess is a jealous boyfriend. He suggested a starting point but I can't see how to get there."

"Castle thinks the sitting took place in LA while the boyfriend was here."

"You're right," said Esposito. "We don't have the information even to begin a search. His laptop only contained recent information. Since his records said he paid in cash for the sittings there is no way to follow the money."

"If we had a way to do facial recognition we could take pictures of the painting, extract the face and try it, but we don't have a system that good yet," said Kate.

"What about the Feds," asked Ryan?

"I guess I could ask the FBI field office. The worst they thing they can do is say no," said Kate.

"You look a lot more relaxed today," commented Esposito.

"It's Castle," said Kate looking back at the flowers, "He had a touch of the flu. He sounded better last night. Today is a travel day, so he should be able to rest up some when he gets to Vegas. Let me make a phone call and see about getting into the field office today."

Before Kate could make the call, Dispatch called. They had a case.

**_At the Crime Scene_**

The Detectives approached the crime scene on one of the many trails in Central Park. It was mid-April and while the morning was chilly the promise of spring was not far off. Passing through the perimeter marked by the yellow crime scene tape they saw a couple sitting on a bench with a member of CSU and two Uniform Officers standing nearby. Seeing their approach one of the Officers left the group and intercepted the Detectives.

"Sergeant Reynolds," said Kate, "What do we have?"

"Detectives," with a nod to everyone, "Denis and Mary Snyder were taking their morning walk when Denis noticed some broken bushes and a splash of color. He went to investigate, found the body, checked for a pulse came back to the path and had his wife call it in. CSU is taking his fingerprints and show prints for negation purposes."

"How long have you been on scene?"

"About seventeen minutes. You guys made good time. The Coroner got here just before you."

"Who caught the case?"

"Dr. Parrish."

"Guys," addressing Esposito and Ryan, "Be sure to get there contact information and have them run you through it one more time. Unless you can think of a reason to keep them here release them. I'll meet you at the scene. She's going to need a couple of minutes more anyway. Sergeant is there a unit available to take them home if they want it?"

"I will make one available Detective."

"On it," said Ryan as they walked off to conduct the interview.

"Do you know of any homeless squats in this area?"

"Two, Marty's about one hundred and fifty yards behind you, and Vernon's about three hundred yards further on. I've already sent some officers to talk to them, but I would not hope for much."

"I never do, but sometimes I am pleasantly surprised."

Sergeant Reynolds accompanied Kate as she approached the crime scene. Stopping on the other side of the brush Kate called out, "Dr. Parrish let me know when I can view the crime scene."

"Give me a couple of more minutes Detective," said Lanie. Dr. Parrish?, thought Lanie, someone must be with her.

A few minutes later Lanie called out, "You guys can come through now."

When Kate forced her way through the brush and saw the look on her friends face she became worried. The look on Lanie's face was one of worry maybe even a touch of fear. Kate looked down at the victim's body and saw Janet Campbell's face. "Janet Campbell," said Kate in low voice.

"Crap," said Esposito.

"You know her," asked Sergeant Reynolds?

"Previous case. Lanie?"

"Baton to the rear of the head, then he strangled her. He also broke her neck. I will probably list both as a cause of death. I'll know more when I can get her in the lab."

"Guys I need you to head to her apartment. Find out when she left and she if there is a camera covering any part of the route." Handing them a copy of the sketch, "Show this to the doorman maybe he's seen him. I'll start the paper chase and a warrant to get into her apartment. I'll do the interview at her office."

Kate's interview at the firm was unrevealing. Janet's boss didn't think Janet was one of his star performers, simple, solid and definitely worth keeping in the Firm. In a year or so she could grow into a top tier asset. From her co-workers Kate learned that Janet was a part of the Friday end of week session at one of the local watering holes. The session was nothing spectacular, just letting off steam with her co-workers and picking up the occasional cute guy. She also learned that Janet had no steady boyfriend. They thought she left one back in Illinois, but they weren't sure.

Janet Campbell's apartment was that of a professional business woman on her way up. Everything was of good quality and of a style that would endure the fickleness of fashion. Everything was relatively neat and tidy. Nothing looked disturbed. CSU only took Janet's laptop, phone, and the papers on the top of her desk for analysis.

Captain Gates was waiting for Kate when she returned to the 12th. "Detective if you have a minute," said Captain Gates.

"Sir, I would like to call Janet Campbell's family first," Kate replied.

"Sure"

After a moment, Kate knocks at Captain Gates door, "You wanted to see me Sir."

"Come in and close the door Detective."

"What's that about," asked Ryan?

"It's either a counseling session or a kick in the ass session. We dropped the ball on the victim Bro," replied Esposito.

"How are we going to stop this guy? We've got zip on forensics and leads," complained Ryan.

"We'll figure something out," said Esposito.

"Detective," said Captain Gates, "You can't take the death of Miss Campbell personally."

"We failed her Sir. We thought she might be a target and we didn't protect her."

"No review board can fault your actions Detective. We really have no information to work with and the robbery theory still looked good. Your Team even took the extra step and warned her. We couldn't protect her 24/7 Detective. The best way to protect the people is to take the killers off of the streets before they strike."

"I'm not worried about a review board. I'm more worried about how I'm going to tell Castle," said Kate "That's the point we have nothing tangible to go on. This morning I was about to call the FBI and see if they could help with some facial recognition support. It's a long shot, something Castle suggested. I didn't follow up. It's an act of desperation. I guess I wasn't desperate enough. "

"Even now you probably still won't get any support. What about Cindi Roberts do you think she is in danger?"

"No Sir, Henri never started a study of her. So I think she is ok. I'll call and warn her though."

"Are there any other names on any list? Any other suspected targets that we need to warn?"

"No Sir?"

"Detective do what you can to find this guy. Dismissed."

"Yes Sir"

Back at her desk Kate asks Ryan to start the video review, Esposito to call Cindi Roberts, while she tries the FBI. Both the video review and the FBI phone call ended in failure.

Neither Lanie's or CSU's reports provided anything useful for the team.

**The murder board at the precinct looked like this**

**Victim:** Janet Campbell, age 24, Investment Advisor

**COD: ** Struck unconscious with a baton, then strangled, Neck was broken

**TOD: **6-8 AM

**TOX screen: ** Clean

**Notes:**

TBD

**Forensics:** We will have the bullets

**Speculation: ** Case related to Babineaux, Dawson

**Follow up: ** ?

The end of shift case review was sobering. The team had three homicides they thought were connected, but real suspects or leads.

**Castle in Las Vegas**

As travel days go, this one is better than most, thought Castle. He and Gina had breezed through the check-in and security lines and were waiting to board the plane. Listening to the people in the boarding area one would think that no one lost money gambling in Las Vegas. Everyone's betting systems always worked and the made lots of money. They just are trying to convince themselves. I hope they are winners and have a good time.

I have always enjoyed coming to this convention. Sure I have to work a little bit, but I get to see and play the latest science fiction and fantasy games. I can relax and play, it's just fun. I wonder if Kate would understand. I wonder if she's caught another case yet, or had any luck finding Henri's killer. I hate to admit it, but I sure do miss the messages she sends every morning.

Easy day, all things considered. We arrive early, I can unpack walk around a bit, then make an early call to Kate, dinner then bed.

"Hey Castle," said Kate. "I see you survived the plane ride."

"Just the normal travel hassles. How was your day?"

"We picked up the Janet Campbell case today. She was killed in the same way, but while jogging."

"Oh, did you go the FBI for help?"

"Yes, we got turned down, local vs. national etc. I hate burecrats."

"Just suits and ties, "remarked Castle.

"Hey do you know where in Vegas I'm staying," he continued.

"The Aria," responded Kate in a manner of fact tone of voice.

"Right, I'm staying in the same suite that the Four Horsemen stated in. You know from the movie 'Now You See Me'. It covers…"

If there ever was a movie to capture and hold Castle's interest, thought Kate, it was this one. How could Castle resist four magicians running a series of cons to correct wrongs and to preserve magic in the world? Kate had to admit the primary ending was a surprise and the second ending was just sweet.

"….and the view is fantastic."

"Kate," continued Castle. "Have you ever thought about quitting the NYPD and just become Mrs. Castle?"

"What brought this on," said Kate warily.

"Loneliness I guess," confessed Castle."But Kate I want to share and discover the world with you. There is so much I want to show you and some many places that I want to experience for the first time with you."

"Castle that's….sweet. I don't think I'm ready to be just Mrs. Castle. Ok Love?"

"Sure , It's just that I miss you," said Castle with a warmth that reassured Kate.

"Castle do you ever thing think of not being my shadow," asked Kate tentatively?

"No," said Castle almost immediately. "Well there is one special case."

"Good," Kate reaffirmed.

"Do you think this guy knows that you sat for Henri?"

"Maybe," said Kate reluctantly. "There was a guy watching us pretty intensely at the Gallery last Sunday. I've shown his picture around the crime scenes. No one recognizes him."

"Ok, be careful. Where are you taking your Dad for dinner tomorrow?"

"Q3, oh and Martha is joining us."

"Ask your Dad not to mention baseball."

"That would be like asking Martha not to mention acting," retorted Kate. Both of them smiled at the memories of their partners first dinner together and the almost disastrous aftermath.

"If it's after nine o'clock when you get home from dinner, call me. If not I'll call you at ten-thirty ok?"

"Tomorrow Castle," said Kate.

"Tomorrow Castle," repeated Rick.

**Thursday **

When her Team arrived they saw Kate slam the phone and disgust, pick up her coffee cup and storm into the break room. They were waiting by the murder board when she returned a few minutes later.

"Another idea gone," said Kate. "I asked the ADA if it would be ok to release this guy's picture and say he is wanted for questioning in the murders. Then he started asking the embarrassing questions like, how do we know he is involved, what witnesses had seen him etc. Needless to say I did not get permission."

"In case this is not related to the other two cases, I want you guys to go back to Janet's firm and see if there are any dissatisfied customers. Also dig deeper into their Friday night sessions, jealousy, rivalry, etc. Esposito when you get back, call the LA police and see if they have any open cases with our MO, woman, bludgeoned and strangled. Maybe Henri brought the problem with him when he moved."

"I'll do that for you Detective," said Captain Gates. "I meet the Chief of Detectives for LA a couple of months ago at a conference. I'm up a couple of favors in the favor game, and if this helps him clear some old cases then I'm still up in the favor game."

"I'm going to revisit the crime scenes. I keep having the feeling that I'm missing something."

At the Firm the Boys learned that Janet was a reasonably good advisor, none of her customers had lost a lot of money in the two years she had been at the firm and all of them were substantially on the plus side. The mild complaint from here supervisor was she did not sell enough of the company's high margin products. But he was very pleased to have as an employee. When they went to the local watering hole to ask about the ladies and the Friday sessions they found out that the ladies came in had a couple of drinks and occasionally flirted with the other patrons, nothing outrageous and certainly not possessive. The bartender didn't think jealousy could be a motive. He provided names of some of the guys that bought the ladies drinks last Friday.

Kate's walkthrough of the crime scenes brought no new insights. On her walk from Janet's apartment to the crime scene in the park Kate thought she was being watched. She tried a few of the counter-surveillance techniques Castle had taught her, but did not see anything.

The only good news came from Captain Gates. She said that the LAPD have five open cases with this MO. They were going to be faxed to the precinct during the evening. If they are similar enough the Team could go back to the FBI can get their support, thought Kate.

**_Jim's Birthday Celebration_**

Madison greeted Kate the old friend she was and the new friend she was becoming. On the way to the table Kate re-introduce Madison to her father and introduced Martha.

"So Rick won't be joining you tonight," said Madison. "That will disappoint the Chief. Those two are a mutual admiration society. She loves his writing and he loves her cooking."

"Castle is off on a book promotion trip. He'll be back on Monday."

"Kate, I've had a cancellation. If you want I get you guys in around eight o'clock."

"Thanks Mads, be I've already made other plans. Castle has eaten nothing but restaurant food for two weeks, I thought we stay in and I would cook." Madison may not have noticed, but both Jim and Martha noticed the slight flush of color on Kate's cheeks. Martha turned towards Jim and nodded slightly and Jim smiled. 'Good' they both thought "Our kids love each other."

"We assumed that Castle was coming so the Chief prepared the menu and chose the wine. I hope that's ok?"

"I won't have it any other way," smiled Kate. "Chief knows what she is doing. She will find us to be three very appreciative quests."

Dinner conversation was a little forced, Kate did not want to talk about any of her current and recent cases, and her Dad was reluctant to talk about his case because they were schedule to start the trial phase in a couple of days. When Martha asked about the Yankees and her Dad responded and asked about the acting school Kate thought someone had killed and replaced her Dad and Rick's Mom. Her feeling of euphoria vanished when he Dad asked Martha about 'her grandchild Alexis'. Martha answered like any proud Grandparent would. When she ended with"…Grandchild are such a blessing don't you think?"

"I won't know," said her Father.

Kate sighed and wondered why she hadn't seen this ambush coming. "Alright guys," Kate laughed, "I take the hint. Castle and I have talked about it, and it's probably going to happen, but give us a little time ok?" I wish Castle could see the smiles on their faces, thought Kate. They make me happy just by looking at them.

When the Chief came out to the table midway through the first course the disappointment on her face of not seeing Castle was obvious.

"This is absolutely wonderful my dear," beamed Martha. "When Katherine and Richard come back from eating here. Rich takes about your food for days. Days. He says everything was perfect. The taste the texture, the presentation, the seasoning, sauces, wines everything. Now I understand why. I've been hinting that I would like to join them, but sometimes these two are as dumb as a bag of rocks. Now I see why. They want to keep a good thing for themselves."

Kate saw Martha's words go straight to the Chiefs heart. "Martha," Chief said with a big smile, "the next time Madison tells me the Castles are coming for dinner I shall make dinner for three and tell Madison to call you."

"Hey, what about me," Jim asked.

"Dinner for four then," said Chef with even a bigger smile. When Chef turned her gaze on Kate, Kate laughed and said, "Castle will not object," if he knows what's good for him, thought Kate.

The rest of the dinner was excellent. Over coffee Kate asked, "How did you like the painting Dad."

"It was great. Thank You."

"That was not the only painting they bought," added Martha.

"Oh, tell me about it."

When Kate looked away Martha answered. "It is nude painting of Katherine." When Jim looked stunned Martha continued. "Jim it was tastefully, respectfully, and expertly done. The artist captured Kate's physical beauty and he managed to portray her spiritual beauty as well. It really is an excellent work of art. Katherine has nothing at all to be ashamed or embarrassed about. I must confess I'm envious. To be remembered like that is a dream come true."

"I would like to see it."

"Dad we are going to put it in the house in the Hamptons. The next time we go up we will invite you up for the weekend." Her Father's smile was all the answer Kate needed.

**Castle in Las Vegas **

After Castle turned off the alarm he turned toward the side of the bed that Kate would normally occupy. Still empty he lamented. Only a couple of more days love, thought Castle. I wondered if she is going to continue with the flowers and cards. At nine o'clock he wasn't disappointed. When he read ' **On Monday You' ' Will See Me' **Castle started laughing; I knew she liked the movie.

Of all the things I do for Black Swan coming to this Convention is my favorite, thought Castle. I always enjoy myself here. It really is four days of fun. It's a science fiction, gaming, and fantasy convention. Black Swan always has a huge presence here. Some of the authors wrote for the genre and Black Swan was always trying to hook up one of their authors with one of the living role playing campaigns or with one of the popular and enduring table top games. It wasn't a huge market, but it had a loyal following and could be counted on to be relatively profitable.

Castle's duties for Black Swan were simple. Show up for two hours a day at the company's booth to talk with the fans and sign autographs and show up at the company's hospitality suite sometime around 5:45 and stay for an hour or so. As one of the established authors he had his choice of booth times. He always chose then ten to noon time slot. This gave him all afternoon to enjoy the convention. He could play the games, see what's new or participate in the numerous discussion groups hosted by the Convention.

This year's convention was no different. The fans at the booth were both respectful and engaged. While signing books was definitely part of the job description, Castle found the opportunity to talk with his fans about plot points, sub texting, and character development and the path forward to be simultaneously rewarding and humbling. Listening to their friendly critiques was stimulating, because the fans cared as much about the characters as he did, maybe even more.

Castle's first recon of the vendor area showed several promising new games he would check out later. The writer's workshop round table discussion he attended at three o'clock on the importance of detailing once again reinforced his commitment to do research. Castle skipped out of the reception early. There was only one new potential client and a VP and Gina had him well in hand.

"Hey Castle," said Kate."How was your day?"

"Normal for a convention, sometimes I think my fans know my books better than I do. The discussion this morning was great; they brought up some things that I would never have considered. Some of them could make good sub-plot points."

"Anything new on the case?"

"Captain Gates called the Chief of Detectives in LA asking about cases with a similar MO. He had five. Tomorrow we will look at them."

"I should have thought of that," said Castle in a dejected voice. "How was dinner?"

"Dinner was fantastic. Martha charmed Chief. So much so that the next time we go we need to bring Martha and my Dad or we won't get served."

"I can live with that."

"We also got the first grandchild hint from Dad."

"What did you say?"

"Yes, but not yet. Ok?"

"Very much ok. …. Kate I'm got a funny feeling. You need to be careful tomorrow ok?"

"Castle, don't tell me your 'spidey sense' is tingling," laughed Kate.

"Yeah, it is," said Castle in a serious tone that caught Kate off guard.

"OK I'll be careful love. Tomorrow Castle," said Kate.

"Tomorrow Castle," repeated Rick.

**Friday **

Kate woke up right before her alarm went off from a dream about her and Castle. If you don't come home soon I'm going to kill you thought Kate. A shower was in order. A shower of the cold variety.

Kate and the Boys rode up on the elevator together. When they got closer Kate saw that the paper fairy had indeed delivered five bundles to her desk. After taking a quick look Kate said, "Guys why don't you take copies of the pictures and go down to the gallery and try to match up the faces to the paintings. If any had been sold go to new owner and has to see the painting. We need to determine if any of these victims sat for Henri. I'll work through these, timelines, leads, and forensics."

"Sure Beckett," said Esposito. When he and Ryan exchanged glances they knew on any other day Kate would have taken the field work and left them with the paper case, but Kate was missing her partner. They also knew that the guy could be gunning for Kate, and they felt better knowing she was in the squad room.

After the Boys had copied the photos and departed, Kate arranged the cases in chronological order and started reading. The break occurred on the first case. The LAPD had something that Kate's Team did not have a full fingerprint. Kate hurriedly arranged to have the print pushed to CSU for comparison against the partials on her open cases.

As Kate was starting to review the third case file Ryan called with the news that all of the studies had been sold. They had the list of buyers and were on their way to interview the purchasers.

As Kate was starting to review the fourth case file she received a text from Castle, 'Loved the Cards, 9:30 ok, BE CAREFUL'.

So hoped her response ;-) would rate a smile.

After she had finished reading all five of the cases, Kate refreshed her coffee, composed her thoughts and surmised the contents on the Murder board.

**CA Cases**

All young attractive females

Theory for all is robbery / home invasion

All bludgeoned then strangled with an article of clothing jewelry etc belonging to the victim.

First case bludgeoning object was a skillet, all others a baton-like object

First case has a fingerprint [Running check to match]

Victims keys were missing for all of the cases

The missing keys are one point of coincidence that is just way to uncommon, but still not enough to link them. Castle still hasn't said what he thinks the missing keys mean. If the fingerprints match we will have a definite link. Maybe then we can get some additional support.

If there is a fingerprint match it means that Castle's theory was half right, a boyfriend probably, but a NYC native. I need to go back and look at the first case again. Did she have a boyfriend and does he have a picture?

Reading the first case file Kate ascertained that the boyfriend had a rock solid alibi and that one of her brothers had been out of town on business, and the other brother lived in Seattle. Could it be a brother, thought Kate? He kills his sister to preserve the family name, and then goes on a Crusade to protect other families and young woman from exploitation. Sounds like something Castle would say. Let me see if I can get a California and Washington DMV picture for the brothers.

Kate started to reread the second case file for personal relationship details when Esposito called, they had one match and they had three more places to visit. Minutes later CSU called to confirm the partials from her current case match the fingerprint in the Ca case. "They are linked," said Kate out loud to no one, "but we don't know who or why."

It was mid-afternoon when the Boys returned back to the precinct and the DMF photos arrived. The Boys had been able to confirm two matches and had one owner left to visit. "Who is it," asked Kate?

"Someone named Mrs. Richard Castle," said Ryan with a straight face.

Kate blushed slightly knowing that the Boys had her back, but would not let a prime tease opportunity go un-wasted. "I've seen that painting," said Kate with a gleam in her eye, "and none of the five are on it."

The California DMV photo of the brother of the first victim, Marcus Gori was almost a perfect match to the face drawn by the art student working as a sales clerk in the Gallery.

"Ok," said Kate, "Let's find out all we can about this guy including where he's currently at. Start the paper chase and I'll brief the Captain."

"No need Detective," said Captain Gates, "I heard. Find this guy we need to talk him."

"Yes Sir."

The Team had tried to call Marcus at his California residence, only to have it go to voice mail. The call to Marcus's employer revealed that Marcus was on a sales trip. He was making the rounds in his sales area. He had no fixed schedule he would go where he thought he could make a sale or keep a customer happy. He did check in twice a day for his messages. It was way after end of shift and the financials and phone records had not come in yet. Knowing that they could not rush the process Kate dismissed the Team for the evening.

Kate stopped off at the Golden Dragon on her way home to order dinner to go. She ordered her usual and an extra order of crab rangoon for Tom, the doorman at their place.

"Stay here," said Chris Lei the owner of the Golden Dragon.

"Can't Mr. Lei," said Kate, "I need to be home so I can call Castle."

"Call him here, we're all family."

"Mr. Lei. There are some things that a wife will say that she only wants her husband to hear," said Kate in a low pitched voice. The soft laugh from Jiao, Mr. Lei's wife, and the smile on her face reminded Kate that she was among good friends.

As Kate approached the door, Kate felt uneasy.' Kate duck roll right now' commanded a familiar voice, Castle? She watched her dinner fly out of hands and hit to the side of the front door right before Tom was about to open it. She heard the swoosh of an object as it passed by her right ear, and a guttural "Die Whore" come from her assailant.

Coming on balance Kate only had time for a "you" as her opponent slashed at her midsection.

Tom saw the man slash at Kate and heard Kate's dinner hit the entryway wall to the side of the door. When Kate ducked away Tom was paralyzed for a moment. Finally he turned ran to his station and dialed 911.

"911 Operator what is the nature of your emergency?"

"Mrs. Castle I mean Detective Beckett is under attack."

"Slow down caller and start again," said a calm voice.

"I'm Tom I'm the doorman at the Loft, Detective Beckett is under attack by a man with a baton right outside my door. She needs help."

"Stay calm, I have Police Dispatch on the line now repeat your emergency."

"I'm Tom I'm the doorman at the Loft, Detective Beckett is under attack by a man with a baton right outside my door. She needs help," said Tom in a voice that was growing more and more urgent, "Look out!"

"All units," said Dispatch, "we have a possible Officer Needing Assistance call at the Loft. The assailant is described as being male with a baton. Please advise."

'Becket,' thought Johnson and Hastings simultaneously, we're four blocks away. As her partner stepped on the accelerator and turned on the lights and the siren, Officer Hastings radioed in, "One-William Twenty-Nine on our way. We are four blocks away and will be approaching from the east."

"Roger One-William Twenty-Nine."

Slash, slash, lunge, and recover. The dance kept repeating itself. The assailant was good. He keep pressing Kate, not giving her time or space to draw her weapon. Kate thought if she tried to run he would easily catch her and take her down. Slash, slash, lunge, and recover, the dance continued.

Two blocks away from the Loft, One-William Twenty-Nine turned into a traffic jam. Kate's fight had been noticed and resulted in numerous accidents. Combined with the heavy traffic One-William Twenty-Nine was stuck with no place to go. Slash, slash, lunge, and recover." Move Kate move," shouted Hastings. "Get out of the way people," shouted Hastings again as she punched the dashboard in frustration. I can't even get out of the car to run to help her. Slash, slash, "NO" yelled Hastings as she watched Kate get hit and go down. "Get up move!" Slash, slash, lunge, and recover, the dance continued.

"This is One-William Twenty-Nine we can confirm the officer needs assistance call. We are literally stuck in traffic. Can anyone else get there," pleaded Hastings.

"Ugh," Kate screamed as one of the slashes finally lands on her rib cage. She rolled and came to her and dodged to her left to avoid the next slash.

'I can't do this, she thought; he's too big, too fast, too strong.' 'STOP' commanded a familiar voice 'Caste? 'Focus, study everything you will find something you can use.' Slash, slash, lunge, and recover.

"That hurt didn't whore. Don't worry it will be over soon." Slash, slash, lunge, and recover.

Hang in there Kate, thought Officer Hastings, as she climbed out the window of her cruiser. She managed to step on the hood of the car next to her and began running on the top of the cars towards her fellow officer, her friend.

Slash, slash, lunge, and recover. 'You got this, said the voice. Opportunities will present themselves, recognize and act.' Slash, slash, lunge, and recover.

Slash, slash, lunge, and recover, the dance continued. His hands, thought Kate, when he recovers his hands are too low!

Slash, slash, lunge, and recover. Pounce! Kate rushed in trapped the assailants hands against his body. She landed a kick to the side of his knee taking him off balance, leaning further in Kate stepped through and kicked backwards taking out the other knee. As her opponent started to fall, Kate went with him. She wanted to drive him through the sidewalk.

With her opponent momentarily stunned, Kate released the hands and started to hit him, 'I got this' the voice said, after the third right hand Kate saw her opponent's eyes flutter and close. Rolling him over with her knee solidly in the middle of his back Kate cuffed him and remained there, head bowed trying to regain her breath.

Evidentially Tom came out, kneeled down in front of Kate and said, "Mrs. C. are you all right?...Mrs. C."

"Yeah Tom, I'm ok. Sorry about the mess and your crab Rangoon."

"That's ok. Mr. Castle would have been proud."

Almost immediately Kate's phone rings. Kate is so startled that she slips off her opponent and lands on her posterior. It's Castle. Before Kate could say anything Castle begins, "how's your hand?"

"How did you …swollen, I will need to have it checked."

"And the rest of you?"

"Ribs need to be checked, bumps and bruises, otherwise I'm ok. Castle how did you know?"

"I don't know, magic I guess," offered Castle.

Magic thought Kate? Seeing officer Hasting approach, Kate said "Castle I've got to go. The cavalry has arrived and I need to take care of business."

"Call me when you're done. I need to hear that you are all right."

"I will, I love you Castle."

For a long moment the ladies look at each other, "I thought you needed help," said Hastings.

"I did. He made a mistake, I got lucky." She won't believe me if I told her that my partner had my back even though he is in Vegas, thought Kate.

"Lucky Detective, maybe, but good technique all the same."

A minute later Officer Johnson pulls up. "Amazing Detective, we saw the whole thing, simply amazing. What do you want done with this guy?"

"The EMT's need to check him out, me too for that matter. If he needs to go to the hospital then stick with him. Bring him back to the 12th. Book him on the assault charge. I want to talk to him. I think we can pin a couple of murders here and in California on him."

"Sure thing Detective."

Kate stayed seated on the sidewalk. She was aware that others had arrived, but she didn't feel like she could deal with them right now. "Crap", Kate eventually said, "I've got to go back down to the 12th and I threw my dinner on the wall."

"That's ok Detective, we can give you a lift to the precinct and even back home," said Captain Gates. "And I understand the food in the vending machines is really nutritious."

"We got her Sir," said Esposito.

"Detective," said Tom, "I've got the whole thing on camera. Do you want a copy?"

"Sure," said Ryan.

"Come along Detective Ryan. Here is the key; you know where the room is right? How's your wife and the baby?"

The EMTs cleared Kate, bruised ribs and hand, take it easy, but be active.

By the time the suspect had made it out of the hospital examining room and through booking he had asked for a lawyer.

When Kate went into the room, the defendant looked at her and said, "I've got nothing to say to you whore."

"OK, listen then, we got you on the assault, your shoes will put you at two of the murder scenes, your fingerprints will put you at all three, plus a murder in California. So there is no way you are walking. I only have one question. Why?"

"You wouldn't understand."

"Try me"

The silence stretched out until the lawyer arrived.

**Castle in Vegas **

Castle woke and performed his normal morning routine, being sure to be back at his room by nine o'clock. When he read the new cards, '**Ice Cream' 'Is For After' **he immediately texted Kate and reminded her to be careful. Her response ;-) cheered him completely.

The morning session with the fans was as interesting as always. Their comments and insights never ceased to amaze him. In the afternoon he got to be just Rick. He and five other people accomplished the mission and saved the information from following into enemy hands. As he was walking towards the Hospitality Suite Castle felt like something was terribly wrong. Kate needs me he thought. As he slumped into a chair all he could think about was helping Kate. Minutes later the feeling passed, but he had a pain in his right hand. Calling Kate he asked "how's your hand? …Call me when you're done. I need to hear that you are all right."

Castle spent several anxious hours waiting for Kate to call. "Kate. Are you alright?"

"Bruised ribs, bruised hand and a lot of bumps and bruises, but I'm ok Castle. We got him. He was the guy who killed Henri, killed the models."

"Any idea why?"

"No, he wouldn't talk. We'll let the ADA worry about that. I'm just glad we got the guy. We can provide closure for a lot of families."

"How are you doing?"

"I'm ok, that part of my life is behind me now. The only man I want in my life is away right now, but he's also here with me. We'll be together soon enough."

"I love you Kate. Keep talking, I just want to hear you voice."

"What do you want me to talk about?"

"Anything and everything. What's at the Valencia?"

"A Steven Seagal double feature."

After a long silence …"How about you read your book out loud."

"Let's read together," countered Kate," I need to hear your voice too. Let's start from the beginning of my favorite Derrick Storm book. You have it on your laptop."

"Yes"

"I'll get a copy out of the den."

They read to each other for nearly an hour.

"I'm getting sleepy Castle," said Kate. "Tomorrow"

"Tomorrow Castle," repeated Rick.

**Saturday**

Kate stopped off to get her ribs wrapped and as a consequence she was later than normal arriving at the 12th. As she exited the elevator she saw a crowd of officers around Esposito's desk. Edging her way forward she sees the fight video taken from the camera from the Loft. After it had ended Kate cleared her throat and said, "Shouldn't that be in the evidence lockup?"

"The original is," said Ryan is voice winding down as recognized Kate's voice, "I made a copy."

"Ok, kiddies," said Kate in her best school teachers' voice, "show and tell is over, back to serving and protecting." With genuine laughter and a lot of nods of greeting the crowd dispersed. After hanging up her coat and getting a cup of coffee from the break room Kate addresses the boys. "Guys we got three cases to wrap up the paperwork on. Esposito you take the Dawson case, Ryan the Babineaux, and I'll take the Campbell, and I'm going to need a copy of the video."

"In your middle desk drawer," said Ryan with a smile.

"How many copies did you make?"

"Three. We figured you would want one."

"Kate," said Espo in low voice that only the Team could hear, "How did you know to duck? There couldn't have been a reflection, did you hear him?"

"Castle told me."

"Seriously, but he's in Vegas." When Kate met his gaze, he continued, "And another thing, the expression on your face changed. One moment you were looking hurt and scared and the next like an Amazon warrior."

"Espo I was hurt and scared. Then I felt Castle behind me telling me to focus. I did. He told me that I had this. I saw the opportunity and struck."

"Next you're going to tell me that Castle hit the guy you had on the ground,"

"Well he did offer to help," said Kate sweetly.

Javier and Kevin looked at Kate in disbelieve. The one thing that they did know was that their partner had faced a skilled adversary alone and had prevailed.

"Hey lover," said Kate when she saw it was Castle calling."…..liked them did you?...collect… sure nine-thirty, Bye"

"Lover," teased Esposito?

"Collect?" added Ryan?

"Yeah," said Kate not rising to the bate. "I sent Castle a card saying I owe him a kiss and a hug. He told me he plans to collect on Monday with interest," said Kate with a smile that wouldn't be denied.

Returning the smile Esposito said, "I'm about brain dead here. Kevin and I are going to the gym before lunch. Care to join us and show us your new moves?"

"I'm going to pass. Where are you on the paperwork?"

"Pretty much done. A couple of hours after lunch should do it."

Nodding Kate says, "Me too, after lunch then."

**Castle in Las Vegas **

When Castle read this morning's cards 'IOU one Kiss' '& one Hug" Castle immediately called Kate and said he planned to collect. Saturday in the booth was spectacular. The fans were numerous, supportive and engaged. The breadth and depth of the conversation was both exhilarating and frightening. This was one of the reasons he enjoyed coming to this Convention.

In the afternoon session Castle went to the demo area and played a couple of the new games. One was a blast, the other needed work. At the Hospitality Suite the Black Swan VP was still trying to convince Rick to start a new series based on a present day Paladin.

"Hey Castle," purred Kate when Castle called.

"What happened to Lover?"

"He's not home right now; he'll be back on Monday."

"Absolutely," said Rick.

For the next ten minutes or so Kate and Rick just carried on a normal conversation, catching each other up, just glad to hear each other's voice. Finally "Castle, what are you wearing," teased Kate?

"A smile, because I'm thinking about my girl."

"Guess what I'm wearing."

"You bought it?"

"Yes, and I'm wearing it."

"You know you're driving me crazy."

"That's the point. Love you Castle. Tomorrow," purred Kate.

"Tomorrow Castle," repeated Rick.

**Sunday**

Kate was feeling a little lonely at the 12th. Her normal Team was off shift today. She had traded off shift days with Debra Callahan. Debra had a family reunion today, and Kate had a reunion of sorts scheduled for Tuesday. If the day is quiet, thought Kate, I can catch up on all the paperwork. Castle's call a little after eleven brightened her day, and by a little after twelve Kate had finished her paperwork and reviewed all of the paperwork for her Team's last three cases. After checking in with Callahan's Team, Kate signed out to the gym where all she wanted to do was stretch out and maybe get in a cardio session.

The others in the gym gave Kate a wide berth as she performed her stretching routine. As she was cooling down after a session on the bags, one of the other officers asked, "Detective, we have all seen the video, if you don't mind answering one question. How did you know to step in when you did?"

"I watched.," said Kate." When he recovered into the high guard his hands were too low and too close to his body. I thought I could rush him, trap his hands, trip him and take him to the ground, which is what happened. So I watched my opponent, waited for an opportunity, then made the best of it."

Not wanting to relive the fight, Kate excused herself and went back to the locker room to cleanup and change. The rest of the day was quiet at the 12th.

**Castle in Las Vegas **

When Castle saw the cards, 'Tick Tock Only' '24 on the Clock' he called Kate to thank her and please remember to pick him up at the airport. Kate feigned forgetfulness, but both of them knew she would be there. The Sunday morning session in the booth was slow, just like always. The people who traveled to get here, were rushing to get back home, and the only people who dropped by was the locals. It still was fun to exchange ideas with his fans. Castle spent the afternoon session trying to find a gift worthy of Kate.

Their evening phone call drifted into silence after only a couple of minutes. "Kate," said Castle, "I'm all talked out. Tomorrow I'm hoping to be all kissed and hugged out."

"Me too," agreed Kate."I just bought some rocky road and chocolate ice cream."

"Good. I love you Kate. Tomorrow," said Castle.

"Most definitely tomorrow," replied Kate.

**Monday**

**At the 12****th**

Beckett had swapped shifts and came in yesterday. All of the paperwork for their last three cases had been reviewed and submitted. With all of the case paperwork complete, the Team was hoping for a slow day, where they could catch up on their professional reading, perhaps a little extra gym time, and get another session on the range. Esposito and Ryan enjoyed watching Kate fidget, check her watch, log into the airline to check the status of Castle's flight log out and fidget some more. Finally the shift ended and Kate was off to collect her guy.

When the traffic cop came to ask Kate to relocate, she shameless displayed her badge and announced "I'm waiting for my partner." The officer nodded and moved on to clear out some other congestion.

When Kate finally saw Castle and Gina exit the terminal she had to resist the urge to run over and tackle him. "Hey Castle!" she yelled and waved. When their eyes locked Kate felt the relief and joy that her guy was finally home.

Castle waited patiently for Gina to collect her final bag before exiting, "No need for a cab Gina," said Castle. Kate's here. We'll give you a ride home."

As Castle exited Baggage Claim he searched for Kate. Hearing his name he turned and saw Kate waving. When their eyes looked he thought men would kill to see the love you have in your eyes. Hurrying as fast as he could, with Gina in tow, he finally arrived drop his bags and scoped Kate into an embrace that led to a kiss that was short, sweet, but full of passion and promise of things to come. Why does it hurt so much when we stop, thought Kate. Breaking the kiss, Kate laid here hear on Castle's chest. She yelped as Castle squeezed her in a hug. His "Sorry…" and attempt to let her go was cut off as Kate pulled him down for another kiss. The message was clear to both, never let go. After breaking the kiss this time they stood forehead to forehead. After a moment Kate stepped back and said "Gina can we give you a ride home?"

"Sure"

At the loft Tom helped Castle with the bags while Kate went to park the car. Castle had unlocked the Loft, moved his bags inside and was waiting for Kate at the front door. Sweeping her into another embrace and kiss they entered the Loft together.

"Why don't you unpack while I'll start dinner? Stir fry ok?"

Taking Castle's quick kiss and gentle hug as his answer Kate precedes into the kitchen to begin preparing dinner. After several minutes Kate noticed that she is still alone. What can be keeping him, she asks herself. The painting is the immediate replay.

Walking into the bedroom Kate sees Castle looking at her painting, "You like?" she asks.

"I thought you said it was sold before you left the gallery."

"It was, I bought it," said Kate a little defensively, as she moved beside Castle and put her arm around his waist. "I wanted to surprise you."

"You did, but I like this even more," as he bent down and picked up Kate and carried her to the bed. Their lovemaking session was slow, passionate, tender, and complete, with each partner trying their best to please the other. After dinner, ice cream and dishes, the Castles adjourned to the couch, with light jazz playing in the background both content to be in the arms of the other.

**Tuesday**

**At the 12****th**

Esposito and Ryan were hoping for another quiet day. Detective Callahan had made it clear she had her own paperwork monster to slay and unless they caught a case the boys were own their own for training and other work related duties.

The calm was shattered when Captain Gates came into the squad room and asked, "Where's Beckett?"

"We traded shifts Sir," said Detective Callahan. "We put it on the book over a month ago," she continued. Unauthorized shift changing had left the squad room understaffed at times and Captain Gates had really cracked down on the practice.

The Captain dismissed the shift change issue with a wave of her hand.

Looking at Ryan and Esposito Captain Gates began, "What I want to know is why I have to wait to find out at the Command Monthlies that one of my Detectives threatened an ADA with an obstruction of justice charge? What was she thinking? Was she trying single-handedly trying to destroy the working relationship between the NYPD and the DA's office? Why do I have to wait to find out that the DA himself intervened? "

"We never knew Sir," said Esposito. "All we know is that she came back with the file list and access to the case files and good interviews with the victim's co-workers."

"The material helped us establish the theory of the crime Sir," added Ryan.

"In other words she was just doing her job."

"Yes Sir," chirred the Boys simultaneously.

With a hint of a smile, "That's exactly what the DA told the Chief and the Chief told us. When people do their jobs things get done. So I will pass the 'well done' on tomorrow."

**Rick and Kate**

Kate woke, like she normally did five minutes before the alarm went off. She stretched her senses and felt Castles' presence beside her. She could hear his rumbling breathing. Turning her head she saw Castle. He has such an innocent sleeping face, Kate thought. I wonder what mine looks like to him? For a moment she contemplated kissing him awake. She would start there and end there. She shivered at the memory when Castle had done that for her. Stick to the plan, she thought. Kissing him awake is still an option. Gathering enough clothes to be 'decent' Kate dressed and left for the kitchen.

Coffee done, toast ready, bacon done, and eggs not quite, Kate inwardly groaned when she heard Castle yawn "Coffee and Bacon."

Kate couldn't remain angry that her breakfast in bed surprise was ruined when she turned and saw Castle sitting in her normal seat, eyes closed, still with his sleepy boy smile, and propping up his head with both hands. Pouring him a cup of coffee, Kate carefully placed it in front of Castle, and then guided his hands around the cup. She heard a barely recognizable 'Love you' as she turned back to finish the eggs.

"Toast Martha" asked Kate as Martha joined them at the counter.

"Yes please Katherine…. Richard, Kate's smart, beautiful, got a steady job, and can cook. You ought to marry her."

"I thought I did," said Castle. "Ok just in case. Kate will you marry me?"

"Can't Castle. I'm already married," said Kate with a hint of a laugh.

"Anybody I know?"

"Don't think so. He's smart, handsome, rich enough, and oh he thinks he's a cop."

"You're right nobody I know," said Castle capturing and kissing Kate's hand after she had placed a plate with bacon, eggs and toast in front of him.

After serving Martha and herself Kate sat down in Castles normal spot and reached out to Rick and grabbed his hand. Martha was surprised that her two children could eat one handed.

"You're up early Mother," observed Castle.

"Business meeting before class," offered Martha. " I may be able to get my class into a theater in front of a paying audience for six weeks. The owner of the theater is meeting me to discuss the details."

"Sounds great Martha," added Kate.

"It does, it is, by all," said Martha as she finished her coffee and headed toward the door.

After breakfast, dishes and a shower Kate settled Rick in the den so that he could catch up on some of his correspondence, while she settled down with her guitar.

Around ten o'clock Kate went to the closet pulled out both of their jackets and headed to the den. "Come on Castle let's go for a walk. There is a story a need you to hear and then you can buy me lunch."

It took them a while to find a park bench in the sun secluded enough for conversation but still having the feel of life all around. We put ghosts to rest today, thought Kate.

"Henri," asked Castle? When Kate nodded he continued. "You told me you sat for an art class in college. Was he one of the guys?"

"I don't know for sure. But he must have been." After a pause, "I sat for the fall class, I was young rebellious, I wanted the money, and I thought it would be fun and exciting."

"Did your Dad know?"

"No. He knows now."

"Really?"

"Another story ok?"

With a gentle squeeze of her had Castle said "OK"

"It was early in the spring semester. I was out in the quad reading something. Henri sat down at another table and he just started to draw me. I felt a connection. Eventually I sat for him and I fell in love. He was my first true love Castle. Back then he made me feel like you do now, safe, cherished, desirable, and loved. But with you it's deeper and more complete." Kate reached up with her off hand and touched Castle's cheek, when he leaned forwards Kate met him with a brief but enthusiastic kiss. Scooting back a little to maintain eye contact Kate continued.

"He graduated that spring and spent the summer in the area. I stayed in California with him that summer. I got a job waiting tables; I sat for him and helped him out in his shop. I was in love with him and very happy. At the end of the summer he said I should go back to school, and he was leaving for Los Angeles. When I offered to transfer, he refused. He said he had a better shot of making it as an artist if he was alone. He said if I truly loved him I would let him go. I never hurt so much in my life."

Castle leaned in to give Kate a kiss on her forehead and a gentle squeeze of her hand. So he's the one that hurt you thought Castle. I envy him for the time he spent with you, but he was a fool to let you go.

"Castle," whispered Kate, "I think we talked about all your EXs on the trip, except Sophia."

"What's to tell? She was a traitorous spy."

"Castle."

After a pause and a deep breath Castle continued, "After Kyra I threw myself into my writing. That's all I had. I knew I needed to strengthen my female characters, and I wanted to create a strong female companion for Derrick Storm. I reached out to the Agency. They teamed me up with Sophia. She became my first muse. We eventually became lovers. When she left on a mission and I didn't hear from her for a while I moved on to California. Later when we found out that she was a traitor and was going to kill us I …."

"It's ok Castle. We stopped her. We saved a little girl's life and maybe the world." When Kate looked into his eyes she saw the pain start to pass her 'Castle' was back with her.

"Any more EXs I need to know about," teased Kate. "I know about Kyra, Sophia, Meredith, Gina, the Nikki Heat want to be, and the stewardess. I never understood the stewardess."

Kate felt Castle stiffen. When he lowered his gaze she knew something was wrong. Whatever it is I can take it, thought Kate. No more ghosts of relationships past. Tell me Castle she willed. Whatever it is I will help you through it. I won't let go no matter what.

"Castle," she whispered.

"The stewardess," began Castle. "The stewardess… Kate the stewardess was because you lied to me."

"How," said Kate in a soft wail. "The occupy bombing. When you were in the box questioning the pickpocket, I was in the observation room. When you said you remembered everything about the day of the shooting, I thought you had deliberately lied to me and were playing me for a fool."

"But I was in therapy, I wasn't ready," cried Kate.

"I didn't know that," said Castle with more heat than he intended. "Kate I'm sorry."

"Shush Love, I know. Shush"

"After the case I had to get away. I couldn't stand the sight of you. I needed someone….uncomplicated."

"….You came back."

"Not for you, for them," said Castle still with a harsh emotional edge, using his free hand to wave toward the park. "For them, I felt I was making a difference to them, that's why I came back."

"You did and do make a difference," said Kate. She grabbed his face and forced him to look at her. "You make a difference to me." Kate was alarmed when Castle let go of her hand, but when he threw his arm over her shoulders and hugged her she knew everything was ok.

"You know I was going to break it off after the zombie case. I didn't because you gave me hope."

Their kiss was brief, but again filled with passion and promise.

"What's fair is fair," said Castle, "Any more EXs I need to know about? Henri, Royce,…"

"Nothing happened there Castle he was my TO."

"…Sorenson, Demming, and Josh Davidson."

"And Inspector Hunt."

Kate felt Castles anger rise then subside. "He was before," he rasped.

"Since our first night together there has been no one else," said Kate.

"Since then you have been my only," confirmed Castle.

For a long time they sat like statues. Rick head bowed, eyes closed and his left arm draped over Kate's shoulders. Kate half turned toward Rick eyes closed, head on his shoulder, her hand holding Rick's right hand. So engrossed in their own thoughts they didn't even notice that several folks that had taken their picture. Birdsong and the peal of a church finally broke them out of their contemplative state. When they looked into each other's eyes they knew that former lovers would never come between them again.

"Lunch?" said Castle.

"I found a new place. You are going to love it. It's on 44th. It's called the 'Painters Pagoda'. " The rest of the day they pretended to be tourists in the city they loved.

After dinner Kate went in to the den to try to coax Rick out. She wanted to show him the 'fight scene' and in general cuddle more. As Rick was powering down the computer, she noticed a hotel envelope that contained all of the cards she had sent him.

"You kept these," said Kate in a small quiet voice, moving closer to Castle.

"Yes," said Castle. "They reminded me that my wife loved me. And at the time I needed that. I'll keep them because to throw them away would be to dishonor her love."

"And now," said Kate standing next to Rick's chair and looking down at him.

Saying nothing Rick stood up, and pulled Kate into an embrace. The 'fight scene' would have to wait for another night.

**Epilogue **

Arriving at the 12th Kate was surprised to see the paper opened to page six and she a picture of Rick and herself. She smiled to herself when she read:

'I was in the park yesterday and I happened to see my favorite author and his wife walking toward a park bench. I thought this would be an excellent time to get both of their autographs. When I finally made it over to them I saw them like this. What type of true fan would intrude on such a moment? I quickly took the picture and walked on. I hope the rest of the fans enjoy the picture.'

"Castle," said Kate, "We made page six."

After a while Castle said, "I know just what to do."

The unanimous picture taker was surprised and overwhelmed when about a week later, Mr. and Mrs. Castle presented her with a signed and framed copy of the picture she had taken.


End file.
